LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf. 



UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA. 



REVELATIONS 



OP 



^%^%€m»%^^r 



CONCERNING 



CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY. 




-f 



Portrait of the Author, by the Prophet Esdras. 

" The form of his countenance is like that of a wild beast; 
his right eye like the star that rises in the mornings and the 
other without motion ; his mouth one cubit ; his teeth a span 
long ; his fingers like scythes; the track of his feet of two spans; 
and in his face an inscription, Antichrist." — Revelation 
OF Esdras ; Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. xvi, p. 472. 

U- 




BOSTON": ^^'^:::;.^: 

J. P. Mendum, (Investigatoe.) 

TQ'E^^TSr YORK: 
D. M. Bennett, (Truth Seeker.) 



>/ 









Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1879, by D. M. Bennett, with 
the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. 



CONTENTS. 

♦ 

PAGE. 

Preface xiii 

Chap. I. ANTICHRIST NOT A LIAR. 

First use of the term — Accepted by present Author — Early denial of 
Christ's humanity — Transition from ideal to real Christ I 

Chap. II. INSPIRATION GIVEN UP. 

Dr. Blauvelt and others abandoning an orthodox absurdity — ^A historical 
basis for Christianity — Leading facts untenable 3 

Chap. III. WAS CHRIST EVER BORN? 

Beecher's Life of Christ — Error of seven years or more in date of nativ- 
ity — Pitiful blunder of Luke — Date cannot be fixed 7 

Chap. IV. WAS CHRIST CRUCIFIED? 

Uncertainty of date of event — Trial of question of crucifixion before Judge 
Reason — Contradiction of Evangelists as 'tO day — Why it could not have 
been Passover-day — That day never fell on Friday — Summing up of case 10 

Chap. V. YES, YOU ARE MISTAKEN. 

Fourth Gospel flatly contradicts other three as to crucifixion on Passover 
day 14 

Chap. VI. DID CHRIST DIE? 

Birth and death barren of proof — Resurrection and ascension idle tales — 
Question of his existence — -Silence of contemporary history — Forgery of 
facts — Destruction of antichristian writings — Absence of historical proofs in 
early Christian writings — Paul's Christ of uncertain character — Jesus 
hanged on a tree— Jewish and Roman mode of execution 15 

Chap. VII. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 

A pitiful muddle — The story in the four Gospels compared — ^Jesus jour- 
neying on Sunday — How disciples recognized him — Different appearances 
of risen Christ — Katie King 20 

Chap. VIII. NO CONTEMPORARY RECORD OF CHRIST. 

Not smoke, but theological dust — The mythical Essenian Christ — Silence 
of Philo, Pliny, Justus, and Josephus — Interpolations in Josephus — Passage 
in Tacitus no doubt spurious 26 

Chap. IX. CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 

All forgeries exposed— Letter of PJiny a fabrication — Messiah, Christ, 
Jesus, Savior in common use 200 b. c. — Tragedy of Christianity turned to 
comedy 3j 

Chap. X. WHAT MR. PEEBLES KNOWS ABOUT JESUS. 

Ignorant denunciation of Robert Taylor — Death of Prometheus — The 
cross— Toldoth Jeschu— Celsus— Rev. John Pye Smith and Dr. Lardner on 
Toldoth Jeshu — Supposed early caricature of Christ — The Talmud — 
Blunders 34 

Chap. XI. • WHAT THE JEWS KNOW ABOUT JESUS. 

Rabbi Wise — The. Apostle James a pupil of Jesus — Nazareth, Nazarene, 
and Nazarite — Only ten cities named as visited by Jesus out of 800 — James 
an orthodox Jew — Jesus a professor of necromancy 39 

3 



iv Contents. 

PAGB» 

Chap. XII. ALL ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 

Paul historical, Peter not — Peter never at Rome — Martyrdom of Paul 
and Peter fabulous — First i6 Popes — No heathen record of Christ or Chris- 
tianity in first century — Absurd traditions of martyrdom — Second Epistle 
of Peter a late forgery 4j 

Chap. XIII. MORE ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 

Comparison of statements in Acts with Paul's own account — Irreconcil- 
able contradictions — Acts unhistorical — No "saints" at Rome when Paul 
arrived 48 

Chap. XIV. PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 

Paul's writings the earliest — Names only three Apostles — Conference 
with Cephas, James, and John — Rebuke of Cephas — Cephas unknown to 
Evangelists — Forgery of Petros for Cephas — Cephas not Peter — His mar- 
tyrdom a fiction — Chain severed between Paul and Peter 55 

Chap. XV. ANTICHRIST PRIOR TO JESUS CHRIST. 

Christians at first considered as Jews — Antioch founded in opposition to 
Jerusalem — Christos and Antichristos — Antioch a type of Antichrist — Ad- 
vent delusion of Daniel, Enoch, John the Baptist, and John the Revelator — 
Number of the beast — Failure of first adventism — Fabrication of Gospel 
story — Second Advent delusion — Present author once a victim 61 

Chap. XVI. THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA. 

Excluded from Protestant Bibles since 1826 — Confirmed by Councils — 
Contained in Douay Bible — Esdras foretelling coming of Jesus Christ — Why 
a rejected book — Date — A prophetic riddle — The author a Jewish Essene — 
Prophecy of resurrection and judgment — Vision of Son of God 65 

Chap. XVII. CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 

Sibylline Oracles — Acrostic — Probably written before Christian era — 
Referred to by Constantine, Cicero, Varro, and Dionysius — Ichthus — Jesus 
called a Fish, and Christians Little Fishes — Chreistos in the acrostic — 
Chrestos on heathen tombs — Chrestus in Rome — Early Fathers punning 
on the word — Lucian and Julian on Chrestos — Chrestos in Justin — Christos 
in Septuagint — Christian in Acts and i Peter — Chrestos in 2 Peter — lesous 
Chreistos prior to Gospels 71 

Chap. XVIII. THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES. 

A Critic's views — Early Christian forgeries 8a 

Chap. XIX. CHREISTOS IN THE ACROSTIC. 

Reply to Critic — Justin clearly quoted the book containing the Acrostic — 
Dated prior to Justin by late Christian authority — Reference to it by Fa- 
thers — Ireneus and Hippolytus on Chreistos — The Oracles a possible 
groundwork of the Gospels 83; 

Chap. XX. THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES AGAIN. 

Rejoinder by Critic 87 

Chap. XXI. A TILT ACROSS THE ACROSTIC. 

Second reply to Critic — Blunders pointed out — Prof. Alexandre dates 
Acrostic a. d. 96-117, or before Gospels appeared — Another ancient Acros- 
tic with " Fish " in it — " Bible in India" a learned work — Testimony of 
Madame Blavatsky — Christna (not Krishna) the Hindoo Savior — Lucian's 
Philopatris — The Trinity before the 4th century — Paul quotes the Sibyl — 
Lardner's lamp and Antichrist's electric light 891 

Chap. XXII. WHEN WAS THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITTEN ? 

Dr. Lardner's and Dr. Davidson's chronology compared — Most of the 
New Testament written in 2d century 96 



Contents. v 

Chap. XXIII. FIRST USE OF THE TERM CHRISTIAN. 

Not at Antioch a. d. 43, but in 2d century — Examination of records — 
First used by Suetonius a. d. iio— next by Arian, 117-138 — then by Justin. 98 

Chap. XXIV. IN PURSUIT OF PETER. 

Paul's Petros an interpolation — Simon Magus — His statue in Rome — Si- 
lence of Justin as to Apostles — Why he ignored Paul— A Babylonian Peter- 
Peter not mentioned by Apostolic Fathers — Interpolation of Petros in Clem- 
ent's Epistle — Cephas in 4th Gospel — Prodigies of Peter — A fabulous char- 
acter 106 

Chap. XXV. THE THREE APOSTLES JAMES. 

James brother of John killed — ^James number two — James number three 
— The perpetual Virgin's numerous children — Her history — Married to 
Joseph, aged 92 — James the less, Jesus's half brother — Was he an Apostle?. .113 

Chap. XXVI. THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 

But one Apostle James, who was an Essenian priest — Why called the 
Lord's brother — His death described by Hegesippus and Josephus — Identity 
of Josephus's James denied — James of the Talmud 118 

Chap. XXVII. THE APOSTLE JOHN. 

John's Gospel strangely silent about James — Fourth Gospel and Epistles 
of John not written by the Revelator John — No Gospel Jesus in Revelation 
— Historical traces of John — Two Johns — Papias's Millenarian grape-vine 
— The Apostle John an Essenian priest, wearing the sacerdotal plate — 
Grave at Ephesus 125 

Chap. XXVIII. HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE THERE ? 

Jesus and his Apostles alike myths — Historical Apostles not Galileans — 
Many Jesuses — Paul's fellow Apostles — Epaphroditus one — The word 
Apostle — Number of Apostles uncertain 132 

Chap. XXIX. POSTSCRIPT ABOUT PETER. 

The Syriac (Peshito) New Testament — No Peter in the Gospels or Paul- 
ine Epistles — Evidences of Greek forgery of Petros for Kepha — Motive for 
forgery — Syriac the vernacular of Palestine 137 

Chap. XXX. EUSEBIUS. 

Startling confession by him — Scarcely a trace of the Apostles — Three 
contemporary bishops Eusebius — Laudation of Constantine — Eusebius ac- 
quitted of forging correspondence of Abgar and Jesus 141 

Chap. XXXI. KING ABGAR ANt) JESUS CHRIST. 

The story by Eusebius corrected by recently discovered Syriac docu- 
ments 14s 

Chap. XXXII. COMMENTS ON THE FOREGOING STORY. 

A manifest priestly fraud — Dr. Cureton's credulity — Crucifixion A. D. 
*29 — Was Thaddeus an Apostle? — ^Jesus quoting false Scripture — Revealing 
secrets to a heathen King — Abgar an easy convert — His successors lapse 
into heathenism 149 

Chap. XXXIII. MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

Continuation of story — Discourse by Thaddeus, a. d. 29 — Anachronism 
— False quotation of Jesus's letter to Abgar — Jesus bribing Edessians to 
believe on him — Success of Thaddeus — His clerical assistants — Reading 
he New Testament a. d. 29-40 — Still worse anachronism — Conversion of 
Assyrian merchants — King Narses and Abgar — Simon Kepha in Persia — 
Abgar and Tiberius — A letter by each — Two copies compared — Both spuri- 
ous — Death of Thaddeus — Of Abgar — Subsequent events — An idle legend 
— Pitiful credulity 153 



vi Contents. 

PAGB. 

Chap. XXXIV. THE CRUCIFIXION a. d. 29— THE ASCENSION 
AT PENTECOST. 
Another Syriac legend — Remarkable foot journey by the Apostles on 
Sabbath evening at Pentecost 168 

Chap. XXXV. APOSTOLIC APPOINTMENTS— DEATH OF SI- 
MON KEPHA. 
First Pentecost — Twenty-seven Ecclesiastical Ordinances issued — Dis- 
tinguished converts — Luke an Apostle — Vast circuit of Simon Kepha — 
Killed with a sword by Nero 170 

Chap. XXXVI. SIMON KEPHA IN ROME. 

His joyful reception there a. d. 43 — The whole city turn out to welcome 
him — His sermon reported — No church at Rome when Paul arrived A., d. 
63 — Annals of Tacitus a forgery of 15th century — Did Paul write Greek? — 
Extract from Kepha's discourse — Simon Magus and Simon Kepha — Rais- 
ing the dead — Kepha's term of Superintendence — His successor Ansus — 
Crucifixion of Kepha — Paul beheaded — Death of Simon Magus — Of Nero. ..174 

Chap. XXXVII. MARTYRDOM OF SHARBIL. 

Mixed chronology — Confession of Sharbil — Modern parallel — Sharbil 
converted — Arrested and tried — Tortured and beheaded — The sure mercies 
of the Messiah — His sister also martyred — Anachronisms — Earthquake 
and revival in Rome 182 

Chap. XXXVIII. MARTYRDOM OF BARSAMYA. 

Willing martyrs — Saved by an edict of Trajan — Christian martyrdom 
disproved by the Fathers — ^Jumble of chronology — Legend the basis of 
Christianity iSd 

Chap. XXXIX. THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

Only one-third of the New Testament written in the first century — Six 
Apostolic Fathers — Their writings — Only two in the first century — Three of 
them wrote by inspiration 191 

Clement of Rome. — Epistle anonymous — His age — First or 3d Bishop 
of Rome ? — Fabulous Roman Bishops — Date of Epistle — Mentions Paul, 
ApoUos, and Kephas, but not Peter 193 

Barnabas. — Epistle anonymous — Probably spurious — Absurd interpola- 
tion of Scripture — Foolishness — Supposed quotation from Matthew — Apoc- 
ryphal Gospel of Barnabas 198 

Hermas. — Most popular early book — Divinely inspired — Quotes no Old 
Testament, but a book not now extant — Vision of an old woman — Mistakes 
her for the Sibyl — Copies her book for the Presbyters — Was he an impos- 
tor? — A lesson in morals — Lying excused — Christian ethics 201 

Ignatius.— Fifteen Epistles, all spurious— Three versions— Death of 
Ignatius at Antioch a d. 115— Martyrdom an idle legend — Dialogue be-, 
tween him and Trajan — Journey to Rome — Martyrdom — Error of date and 
place V 204 

PoLYCARP. — Date of martyrdom — Not ordained by John — Date of his 
Epistle— Legend of his martyrdom— Edicts of successive Emperors against 
persecution — Doubtful Christian martyr 208 

Papias. — Date of martyrdom — Writings — Mention of Apostles — Not a 
hearer of John — Prolific grape-vine — Reference to Mark, not the first Evan- 
gelist— To Matthew, not the first Evangelist— To Judas— Epistle to Diogne- 
tus of no value — Result of spectrum analysis — No Apo-stolic color band 211 

Chap. XL. THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

Thirteen in number; some existed in 2d century. 

The Protevangelion. — Purports to be by James — Joachim and Anna 
childless — He absconds in shame — She mourns, and prays for a child — 



Contents. vii 

PAGE. 

Prayer answered by an angel — Husband returns — Birth of Mary — Conse* 
crated to God in the temple — What to do with her at 12 — How assigned to 
widower Joseph — Makes a veil for temple — Descent from David — Annun- 
ciation — Visit to Elizabeth — Joseph's discovery of her condition — Innocence 
established — Journey to Bethlehem — Birth of Jesus in a cave — Astonished 
midwives — Herod's massacre — Escape of Jesus and John — Murder of 
Zacharias — Legend written b. c. 4 216 

Pseudo-Matthew. — Purports to be translated by Jerome— Letters of 
Bishops to Jerome, and his reply — Story of Joachim and Anna — Variations 
from the Protevangelion — The infant Jesus in an ox-stall — Christening — 
Adoration of Magi — Flight into Egypt — Dragons in a cave — Adoration of 
wild beasts — Lions for guides — A palm tree bows down — Thirty days' jour- 
ney shortened to one — City of Sotinen — Fall of idols — The governor and 
people converted — Return to Galilee — Jesus and the clay pools — Sparrows 
of clay — How naughty boys died — Jesus and his schoolmasters — At Naza- 
reth — At Jericho — At Capernaum — At Bethlehem — James bitten by a viper 
— Family feast — Jesus's two aunt Marys — Apostolic cousins — Was John 
the Baptist a Christian? 222 

The Nativity of Mary.— Birth of Mary^Espoused to Joseph at 14 — 
Annunciation — Early discovery of her condition — Journey to Bethlehem — 
Birth of Jesus — A quadruple Trinity 231 

History of Joseph the Carpeniek. — An address by Jesus — Joseph a 
bachelor at 40 and a widower at 89 — His four sons and two daughters — 
Birth of Jesus in a cave — Flight into Egypt — The wrong Herod — Death of 
Joseph aged iii — Jesus at his bedside — Frightful scene — Antenatal prayer of 
Jesus — Discourse on death— Enoch and Elijah to be killed by Antichrist.... 233 

Gospel of Thomas. — Jesus in Egypt — Return to Nazareth— Aliracles— 
Dispute with the Doctors — Marcion's Jesus — Genealogy wanting in earliest 
Gospels — Perseus begotten of Jove 236 

The Infancy. — Book of Joseph Caiaphas — What Jesus said in the 
cradle — Journey to Bethlehem — Birth in a cave — Circumcision — The Magi 
— Journey to Egypt — Miracles — Titus and Dumachus — Pharaoh still living 
at Memphis — Return to Judea^Miracles — Young Judas — Joseph's blunder 
in making a throne — Simon the Canaanite— Dispute with the Doctors — 
Jesus an astronomer and metaphysician — Jesus at Nazareth till 30 years old. ..239 

Gospel of Nicodemus, or Acts of Pilate. — Part r. — Reference to it 
by Justin — Who wrote it? — Date of crucifixion — Trial of Christ — Standards 
bow down — Accusations — Pilate's wife's dream— Nicodemus — Veronica — 
Eclipse of the sun at full moon — Joseph of Arimathea's arrest and miracu- 
lous escape — Ascension of Jesus in Galilee 248 

Pari 2. — The Descent of Christ into Hell. — Old Simeon and his 
sons raised from the dead— Their experience in Hades — The patriarchs 
and saints there — Satan's talk and Hades — Objection to bringing Jesus 
there — The King of Glory comes — Satan bound — Patriarchs and saints let 
out of Hades and taken to Paradise — Enoch and Elias — The crucified thief 
— Annas and Caiaphas's calculation of 5500 years from Adam to Christ — 
Pilate's writings — Letter to Claudius Cesar! 253 

Pilate's Letter to Tiberius Cesar.— Praise of Jesus Christ— Warn- 
ing of the Prophets and the Sibyls — Pilate compelled to yield to the Jews. ..257 

The Report of Pilate. — Mside to Azi^-usius / — Jesus delivered up by 
deceased Kings — His miracles — Fragrant Lazarus — A lovely magistrate — 
The crucifixion — Supernatural darkness — Resurrection of the patriarchs — 
Sunshine at midnight 258 

The Giving up of Pilate.— Pilate a prisoner at Rome— Blaming the 
dead Kings — Cesar a believer in Christ — The gods fall down in the Senate 
— The Jews exiled and enslaved — Condemnation ©f Pilate — His prayer — 
His head struck off", and received by an angel — His wife dies for joy 259 



"viii Contents. 

PAGE. 

Death of Pilate. — Cesar being ill sends for Jesus— Too late— The 
Veronica portrait cures him — Pilate summoned and condemned — Kills him- - 
self— Body sunk in the Tiber, and then in the Rhone — Pilate banished to 
Gaul — Drowns himself in Lake Lucerne — His tomb at Vienna 260 

Narrative of Joseph. — Written by Joseph of Arimathea— Demas and 
Gestas robbers — ^Judas Iscariot a detective — Accuses Jesus of robbing the 
temple — Judas bribed by Annas and Caiaphas — Jesus dumb at the trial — 
Condemned and crucified — Demas's prayer, and Christ's answer — Letter of 
introduction to Paradise — Joseph's imprisonment and escape — Letter to 
Jesus from Paradise — Transfiguration in Galilee — ^John's introduction to 
Demas 262 

The Avenging of the Savior.— Prince Titus cured of a cancer — Bap- 
tized by Captain Nathan — Titus and Vespasian lay waste Judea — Seven 
years' siege of Jerusalem — Tiberius cured of leprosy by the Veronica por- 
trait, and baptized 265 

Chap. XLL RECENT CHRISTIAN FORGERIES. 

"A remarkable historical document" — Condemnation of Christ — What 
year and day? — Another "Death Warrant" — Impossibility of fixing tile 
date — Limits of the Passover — No Friday, 14th M isan, between a. d. 28 
and 33 268 

Chap. XLII. THE APOCRYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 

Early traces — Acts of Peter and Paul — Their death at Rome — Acts of 
Paul and Thecla — Personal appearance of Paul — Thecla's history — Acts 
of Barnabas — His martyrdom — Matthew's manuscripts preserved by 
John Mark — Acts of Philip — Martyrdom in Asia — Ministry at Athens — 
Acts of Andrew — Crucifixion in Achaia — Acts of Andrew and Matthias 
— Three days' torture in the country of the Man-eaters — Acts of Peter and 
A7tdrew — Country of the Barbarians — Peter makes a camel go through a 
needle's eye — Acts of Matthew — A wonderful fruit tree — Ineffectual at- 
tempt to burn Matthew by the King of the Man-eaters — Conversion of the 
King — Acts of Thomas — An early Gnostic book — Thomas sold by the Sa- 
vior to an Indian King — Building a palace in the heavens — Martyrdom — 
Curative power of his dust — Martyrdom of Bartholomew — Goes to India 
and abolishes idol worship — Indestructible clothing — Conversion of a King 
— Bartholomew beheaded — Acts of Thaddeus — Did Jesus write a letter to 
Abgar? — The Savior's photograph on a towel — Death of Thaddeus at Bey- 
rout — Acts of John — Personal appearance — Banishment and return — Last 
hours — Is he dead yet ? — Revelation of Moses — Death of Adam and Eve — 
Revelation of Esdras — What he sees in Tartarus — Revelation of Paul — 
His visit to heaven and hell — Revelation of John — Death and the resurrec- 
tion — The Falling Asleep of Mary — The twelve Apostles present — The 
Passing of Mary — Thomas's vision — Mary's body taken to heaven 273 

Chap. XLIII. STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME. 

Anxious inquiries concerning the soul — The Son of God in Judea — A voy- 
age to Palestine via Alexandria — Barnabas in Alexandria — Clement in Cesa- 
reawith Barnabas and Peter — Conversion — Secretary to Peter — Zaccheus the 
publican — Peter's doctrine of pairs — Histoiy of Simon Magus — John the Bap- 
tist's thirty disciples — Helena — Dositheus — Simon the ''Standing One" — 
Aquila and Nicetas renounce Simon — Simon's prodigies — Falsehoods in the 
Mosaic law admitted by Peter — "The true things of the Scripture" — Pe- 
ter's infidelity — Doctrine of one God — Discussion between Simon and 
Peter — Is God wicked ? — Contradictions of the Scripture — Foreknowledge — 
The law not written by Moses — One verse true without controversy — Gen- 
uine and spurious Scripture — Zaccheus ordained bishop — Bernice, daugh- 
ter of Justa the Syrophenician — Simon at Tyre — Appion, Annubion, 
and Athenodorus — The trick Clement played on Appion at Rome — Ap- 
pion's allegorical explanation of the amours of the Gods — Clement's expos- 
ure of the absurd hypothesis — Peter at Tyre, Sidon, and Beyrout — An 
earthquake — Simon driven away — Peter at Tripolis — Cause of the fall of 



Contents. ix 



man — Angelic amalgamation — Cannibalism — Nimrod's name changed to 
Zoroaster — Origin of fire-worship — Baptism necessary to salvation — Clem- 
ent baptized — False Apostles — James the Lord's brother the guide — Peter 
at Antaradus — His diet and wardrobe — Clement relates his history — Faustin 
his father, Mattidin his mother, Faustinus and Faustinianus his elder 
brothers — Mother and sons' departure 24 years ago ; Father's departure 
20 years ago — No tidings from them — Excursion to Aradus — The old beg- 
gar woman's story to Peter — Clement discovered to be her son — Peter's 
wife and Clement's mother in the wagon — Arrival at Laodicea — Aquila and 
Nicetas discover their mother and brother — ^Joyful reunion — Story of the 
shipwrecked sons — Adoption by Justa — Companions of Simon — Baptism 
of Mattidia — Eucharist with salt — The old workman on Astrology — Discov- 
ery that he is the husband of Mattidia and father of Clement — Complete 
family reunion — Faustus ready to renounce Astrology — Second discussion 
between Simon and Peter — Doctrine of one God — Many Gods in Scrip- 
tures" — Two Creators — Peter a magician in Simon's estimation — Has God a 
figure ? — What is space ? — Love and fear of God — Revelation by apparition — 
Do visions speak falsely ? — Appearance of Jesus to Simon as an adversary 
— Can the Creator be good and just? — Peter calls Simon a liar and a rob- 
ber — Simon's real views — Meaning of "No one knows the Father," &c. — 
Simon angry — Denounced by Peter — Origin of evil — Did God beget the 
^ Devil? — How death came — The Devil's usefulness — Simon retires in a 
rage, rebuked by his former friend Faustus — Peter's genuine views ex- 
plained privately — The Devil's final restoration to goodness — How air be- 
comes water, stone, and fire — Faustus calls on his old friend Appion — 
Meets Simon, who bewitches him — Changed to Simon's form — Peter sees 
Simon's purpose — to cause Faustus to be apprehended for Simon — Faustus 
appalled — How it was done — Peter promises to restore Faustus — Faustus 
goes to Antioch and personates Simon, confessing his sins — Appion and 
Athenodorus in search of Faustus — Peter hasn't seen him — only Simon who 
called himself Faustus ! — An ingenious falsehood — Faustus in danger at 
Antioch as the Samaritan impostor — Peter hastens there — Converts and 
baptizes ten thousand men, and ordains Theophilus 281 

Post-Prefach. — Peter's letter to bishop James — Peter's books to be 
carefully guarded— Reception of Peter's letter by James and the elders — 
Form of oath administered to the faithful — Clement's letter to bishop James 
— How Clement succeeded Peter 331 

Variations of the other Version. — Barnabas in Rome — Seven years 
after the crucifixion — Great discussion between the twelve Apostles and the 
Jewish priests — Saul breaks it up, and knocks archbishop James down the 
steps of the Temple — Flight of the disciples to Jericho — Saul in search of 
Peter — Peter's escape and return — James sends him to Cesarea to meet 
Simon — Date of Saul's conversion — Society of John the Baptist — Luna, or 
Helena — Simon and Dositheus — Simon's pretensions — The "Stans" — 
Only one discussion with Peter — Peter's revery while fishing with Andrew 
— Simon denies the soul's immortality — Peter's angry exposure of Simon — 
Simon's angry boast — Born of a virgin and the Son of God — Simon's de- 
parture for Rome — Clement's ten books of Peter's preachings — Mesraim 
called Zoroaster — Twelve Apostles, twelve months — Paul excluded — The 
poor workman's story — Peter introduces him to his long-lost family 334 

Chap. XLIV. THE GNOSTICS. 

Existed before the Christian era — Simon a Gnostic prior to Jesus Christ 
-^The Ophites, Naasseni, Peratse, Sethians, and Justinians all pre-Chris- 
tian — Jesus at twelve years old, in the reign of Herod, called to preach — 
Caused to be crucified by Naas— The numerous Gnostic Fathers — Their 
Christ pre-Christian 341 

Chap. XLV. CONCLUSION. 

Jesus Christ the creation of the 2d century — No Virgin Mary and infant 
Jesus till 2d century — Meagre writings of Apostolic Fathers — Justin's infor- 
mation about Jesus — The Gnostics in their zenith in Justin's time — Tatian's 



X Contents. 

PAGB. 
repudiation of a human Savior — Did Theophilus and Athenagoras recog- 
nize a historical Jesus? — Hegisippus's memoirs — Two grand-nephews of 
Jesus before Domitian — Hard-fisted farmers ruling the Church — Later 
Fathers — Significant passage from Justin about an invented Christ — Christ 
born in a cave — Jerome's description of it — Worship of Adonis in said cave 
— Gnostic passages in Ignatius — Current denial of birth, incarnation, and 
crucifixion of Christ — Remarkable passage from Ireneus — Jesus an old man 
— Testimony of the elders appealed to — Fatal dogmatic blunder — Dr. 
Strauss's " Life of Jesus" — All the facts of the Gospels questioned except 
the donkey ride and crucifixion ! — No proof that they occurred in the days 
of Pontius Pilate. 344 

APPENDIX. 

Have we found Jesus? — Wagenseil's Tela Ignea Satance 357 

Sepher Toldoth Jeshu. — Chapter!. — Reign of Alexander Janneus — 
Miriam, betrothed to Jochanan, seduced by Joseph Pandera — Jochanan in 
shame flees to Babylon — Birth of Jehoshua — Outlawed as a bastard — Name 
changed to Jeshu — Flees to Galilee — Returns to Jerusalem — Steals the in- 
expressible name of God from the Temple — Cuts open his flesh and inserts 
the Name therein — Boasts of being born of a virgin, and works miracles at 
Bethlehem by the power of the She77t Hamphoras — Has many followers — 
Strategy of the devout men to capture him — Enticed to Jerusalem 359 

Chapter II. — Jeshu at Nob — Rides into Jerusalem on an ass — Appears 
before Queen Helena (Alexandra) — Miracles wrought in her presence — 
Accused of sorcery — Complaint dismissed — Judas obtains the charm and 
performs like miracles— Judas and Jeshu appear before the Queen — Jeshu 
flies in the air^Judas does the same — They wrestle together — Moistened 
with sweat both fall to the earth deprived of power — Jeshu escapes to the 
Jordan — Renews his power by washing 363 

Chapter III. — Judas enters Jeshu's tent by night and takes away the 
charm — Jeshu leads his followers to Jerusalem, hoping there to recover the 
charm — Judas a spy in his camp discloses the plan — Jeshu captured by the 
device of Judas — Scourged and crowned with thorns — Cries out for drink 
— Vinegar and gall given to him — Stoned and hanged outside the city on the 
eve of the Passover — All wood being enchanted by him and unable to bear 
his body, he is hanged on a cabbage stalk — His body buried — ^His disciples 
mourn at the grave — Judas secretly takes up the body and buries it in his 
garden — The disciples say Jeshu has gone to heaven — The wise men in- 
quired by the Queen to produce the body — Their distress — A fast — ^Judas 
discloses his deed — The body of Jeshu produced — The Queen discomfited 
— Why a monk shaves his head ; 367 

Chapter IV. — Contention between the Nazareans and Judeans — Spread 
of the Jeshuitic faith in thirty years — The twelve Apostles — Distress of the 
Israelites — Counsel of Simeon Kepha — He procures the charm, works 
miracles, and goes to the chief city of the Nazareans — The followers of 
Jeshu accept him — Kepha's new doctrines and ordinances— They build 
him a tower, and he abides thereon six years — Dies and is buried within 
it — The abominable fraud of Peter at Rome — Advent of Elias — Crushed by 
a wall 371 

Notes. — The Toldoth Jeshu of Huldrich — Gould's translation 375 

Chronology. — Date of the birth of Jeshu about 106 b. c. — Reign of 
Janneus — Greek era 375 

Misfortune to Israel 376 

Joseph Pandera, Mary, and Jesus. — References in the Talmud — 
The Mishna and Gemara — Celsus and Origen—Basnage — Epiphanius — 
Jacob surnamed Panthera the grandfather of Jesus 377 

Decency 379 

The Boy Jesus before the Senators. — The story as told in the 
Talmud 379 



Contents. xi 

PAGE. 

The two brazen lions. — Dogs in the Talmud „ 380 

How Jeshu became a Magician. — Persecution by King Janneus — 
Jesus and Jehoshua Ben Perachias in Egypt — Jesus returns with the charm 
and becomes a conjurer in Judea 380 

The Lions roared. — "The Dogs barked." 381 

Jesus at Nob. — Nob an ancient town — Bethphage, Bethany, and nu- 
merous other places named in the Gospels not identified 382 

Not Queen Helena but Alexandra. — A probable interpolation 383 

Gall for meat 383 

The Preparation for the Sabbath and Passover. — Agreement 
with the Talmud and 4th Gospel ; disagreement with Synoptics 383 

Stoning and Hanging. — References in Babylonian Gemara 384 

Stem OF a Cabbage. — A Jerusalem artichoke? 385 

The Jewish law about hanging 385 

The Twelve Apostles. — Five mentioned in Babylonian Gemara — Ten 
or eleven by Celsus 385 

Simon Kepha 386 

The chief city of the Nazareans. — Babylon? — Paul and Jesus 
Nazareans 387 

St. Peter a Myth. — Petros, Kepha, ha Maschiach, ho Christos — 
Simon surnamed Kepha — Kepha writes from Babylon — Possibly before the 
Christian era — lesous and Christos in Septuagint — Forgery of Petros in 
New Testament — Early traces of Kepha, not Petros 387 

The Talmud and the Toldoth Jeshu. — All references to Jesus or 
Jeshu translated from the Talmud — Admissions of Mr. Gould — Jeshu in the 
Talmud a historical character — Confusion of tradition about Jeshu — How the 
story grew up — Jeshu in Egypt — A magician in Judea — No reference in 
the Talmud to the Jesus of the Gospels — The two Toldoth Jeshus forgeries 
of the i2th century (!) — Contradictions of the two stories — Chronology — 
Confusion of dates — Who composed the Mishna ? — Silent concerning the 
Jesus of the Gospels 389 

The Toldoth Jeshu of Huldrich. — Partial translation by Mr. 
Gould — Miriam in the reign of Herod the great — Betrothed to Papus Ben 
Jehuda — Runs away from Jerusalem with Joseph Pandera to Bethlehem — 
Pursued by Herod — Flight to Egypt with their son Jeshu — Jeshu educated 
at Jerusalem — Offends the Rabbis and is outlawed as a bastard — Goes to 
Nazareth — His discipl s: Simon called Peter, ("the first,") Matthias 
called Matthew, Elikus called Luke, Mardochai called Mark, Thoda 
called Papul, (Paul,) and Jochanan, called Johannus, (John) — The desert 
of Ai — Johannus (Baptist?) killed by Herod — Jeshu's miracles at Jerusa- 
lem and Ai — Changes the law — Judas son of Zachar (Iscarioth) a pre- 
tended disciple and a spy — Peter and Jeshu lost in the wilderness — The 
Apostle at an inn — The goose story — Jeshu married to daughter of chief 
ruler of Ai — Judas devises a plan to capture Jeshu — Approved by Herod — 
A fast appointed — Judas by lies induces Jeshu to come with his disciples to 
Jerusalem — Jeshu comes to abolish festivals and holy days and to give forth 
a new law — Works miracles by the incommunicable Name — He and his 
disciples drink the water of forgetfulness treacherously mingled with their 
wine — They are captured in bed — His disciples stoned — Jeshu imprisoned 
till the Passover — The people of Girmajesa and the council of Wormajesa 
intercede for his life — He is hanged on a tree on the eve of the Passover — 
Judas buries the body in his garden — The people of Ai in revenge slay two 
thousand Israelites — They believe that Jeshu has gone to heaven — ^Judas 



xii Contents. 

PAGK. 

invites messengers to see Jeshu's dead body — They return a false report — 
The men of Ai encamp against Israel — Jeshu's uncle, Simon Ben Kalpus, 
learns the sacred name, goes to Ai on a thunder cloud and alights on a 
tower — Works miracles in the name of Jeshu — Gives new commandments 
and changes the Alphabet — Composes lying books called Avonkelajon, 
(Evangelium) — Composes the Revelation of John — The number of the 
beast — Jeshu Natzer — Death of Herod — Archelaus — Images of Jesus and 
Mary — Death of Mary— Hanging of Jeshu's brothers and sisters— Memo- 
rial stone — King Archelaus kills a hundred of Jeshu's kindred — Simon's 
device to destroy the Jeshuites — Takes them up on a cloud and drops them 
down dead — They are believed to have gone to heaven — Spread of the 
Jeshuitic faith — Abolition of the law — Institution of Sunday, the birthday 
of Jesus (!) as the Sabbath — Accursed of Israel — Was this version known 
to Luther? 394 

Sepher Toldoth Jeshu in the 2d Century. — Voltaire's opinion — 
Was this book known to Celsus and Origen ? — Variation of Justin's Gospel 
from ours — A fire kindled in Jordan — Did Jesus see the dove ? — John the 
Baptist not connected with Jesus — Was Jesus "little, ill-favored, and ig- 
noble?" — " Detestable forgeries" of the 2d century 408 

Sepher Toldoth Jeshu in the 13TH Century. — Raymundus Martini's 
version — ^Jesus the Nazarean-in the reign of Queen Elani, (Helena) — The 
Shem Hamphoras guarded by brazen dogs — ^Jesus obtains the Name — Says 
he is not a bastard but the Messiah, born of a virgin — Works miracles — The 
Queen astounded at his works — Jesus goes to upper Galilee— Soldiers sent 
to arrest him as a sorcerer — Makes mud birds fly and a millstone float on 
the sea — The soldiers return without him, and relate the wonders — ^Judah 
Scariot obtains the Shevz Hamphoras , and works miraoles — He and Jesus 
appear before the Queen — Jesus rises in the air — ^Judah follows him — They 
wrestle together — Jesus falls and breaks his arm — Is arraigned, covered 
with sackcloth and struck — Cannot tell who struck him — Is hanged on a 
stem of a plant of wonderful growth 410 

Paul flourished before the Christian era. — The suspicion never 
entertained until the discovery of a pre-Christian Simon Kepha — Only clue 
to Paul's date in 2 Cor. xi, 32 — King Aretas in Damascus prior to 63 b. c. — 
The book of Acts unhistorical — Paul's Christ not the Christ of the Gospels 
— Paul contemporary with Simon Kepha of the Toldoth Jeshu 414 

Silence of Josephus, Justus, and Philo. — Admissions of Mr. Gould.. 416 

Josephus knew no Paul or other Apostles. — Josephus born in Jeru- 
salem about the alleged time of Paul's conversion — Four visits of Paul to 
Jerusalem described in Acts — Josephus knows nothing of them — Paul be- 
fore Felix and festus at Cesarea — Josephus at Rome a. d. 63 — Paul and 
Peter there at same time? — Silence of Josephus about either — Chronology 
of Acts all false — Footprint in Acts of the hanging of Jeshu — James the 
Just not the brother of Jesus Christ — Important literary discovery 417 

Antiquity of the Toldoth Jeshu Story. — Wagenseil's Refutation — 
Discrepancies in versions — Admissions of Mr. Gould — Probable interpola- 
tion about Peter in Rome — Suppression of tell-tale Gospels by Ireneus and 
his contemporaries — The big Toldoth Jeshu gun and the magazine of 
Christianity 422 

Postscript. — "Tacitus and Bracciolini" — The forgery of the "An- 
nals " claimed to be demonstrated — Adverse critique in Edinburgh Re- 
vieiu — Conceded cloud on title ^ ^3 



PREFACE 



Antichkist is come, and here is the book of his Reve- 
lations. The meaning thereof is plain and needeth no 
interpreter. 

The historical existence of Jesus has been doubted 
by many, and a few learned critics have ably maintained 
the negative. But the existence of the twelve Galilean 
Apostles has barely been questioned till now. In this 
work a thorough though concise examination of both 
questions has been undertaken. 

If the Gospel Jesus is a myth so are his twelve 
Apostles. Historically they must stand or fall together. 

The recent publication in English of the Christian 
writings of the first three centuries makes the investiga- 
tion more easy than heretofore. Outside of the New 
Testament, the writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, and 
Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, there is little or noth- 
ing that throws any light on the subject, except the sig- 
nificant silence of Jewish and Pagan writers. 

Most readers will perhaps condemn this work and de- 
nounce its author on the ground that even a false faith is 
better than none. Is not this a groundless assumption ? 
If the detection or exposure of error desta'oys faith, of 
what use is such faith ? If Jesus Christ is a myth, how 
much better is Christianity than Paganism 1 If the 



XIV PREFACE. 

Gospels are monkish legends, who are the liars and de- 
ceivers ? If Christendom is worshiping a false God, is 
not Antichrist a benefactor instead of a blasphemer ? 

P. S. — Just as our work was well nigh completed, 
including substantially the foregoing Preface, we found 
a copy of the " Sepher Toldoth Jeshu " story in Hebrew 
and Latin. Soon afterwards we found a partial transla- 
tion of another version of the same story, together with 
all the passages in the Jewish Talmud that are supposed 
to relate to Jesus or Jeshu. These we have embodied in 
an Appendix, and have added thereto further evidences 
which in our judgment prove that Jesus, Paul, and 
Cephas, otherwise called Peter, lived and died before the 
Christian era. 

Thus unexpectedly has our hypothesis of a mythical 
Jesus in the days of Pontius Pilate been confirmed. 

We claim in these pages to have presented many new 
and startling facts bearing upon the momentous ques- 
tion. To err is human ; our logic may be unsound, but 
facts must settle the controversy. 

This is the most radical attack ever made on Christianity. 
The superstructure has been shattered by other engines ; 
the present assault is at the foundation, which is at last 
discovered to be only piles and plank, without even a 
Paul or a Peter, much less a Christ Jesus, for a comer- 
stone. 



CHAPTER I. 
ANTICHRIST NOT A LIAR. 

Antichkist is a bad name ; so was Christian at first. 
Both were invented and appHed as terms of reproach. 
To be a Christian has been for centuries respectable; 
the time may come when it will be so no longer, and 
then of course the terms Antichristian and Antichrist 
will not be disreputable. 

The first use of the word Antichrist is in 1 John ii, 18. 
Perhaps it was but another name for the " man of sin " 
or " son of perdition." At all events, John appHes it as 
an opprobrious epithet to such as deny the Father and 
the Son, and assumes that whosoever denies the Son 
denies the Father. Quite true ; for if there is no child 
there can't be any father. Now Antichrist denies in the 
first place that there ever was any begotten Son of God, 
and in the second place that there is any proof of the ex- 
istence of the person called Christ ; therefore. Antichrist 
accepts the epithet even as John intended to apply it. 

But there is more significance in what John says about 
Antichrist than appears to the superficial reader. Why 
was he so worried about certain persons who denied that 
Jesus had come in the flesh, that he called them Anti- 
christs ? If Christ had indeed existed in the flesh only 
fifty or sixty years before John wrote, there must have 
been many then living besides himself who knew it. Is 



Z ANTICHRIST NOT A LIAR. 

it not extraordinary that as early as the year 90, when 
John is supposed to have written his Epistles, there were 
those who asserted that Christ had not come in the flesh ? 
Church history tells us that shortly after the date of the 
crucifixion there were learned sects of Christians who de- 
nied that Christ was ever born, or that he ever existed 
save in appearance. And could the light of history shine 
on the first two centuries of the Christian era, as later 
periods have been illumined, it would probably appear 
that not only Pagans, but even Christians, denied the 
corporeal existence of Christ, maintaining that he was only 
an ideal being, like Apollo or Prometheus. Before the 
beginning of the Christian era there is reason to believe 
that such an ideal being was worshipped by the Essenes, 
and it is possible, nay, even probable, that they named 
him Christos, the anointed; that they substituted for 
the bloody sacrifice of a beast the ideal sacrifice of a man, 
and that the man thus sacrificed grew into a deity, and 
was called the Son of God. This was a sacred mystery. 
But as the doctrines of the Essenes spread among the 
common people, it was necessary to present to their sim- 
ple minds a real and not an ideal sacrifice. So the story 
of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus was in- 
vented and woven into the sacred literature, and thence 
came Jesus the Christ, or Jesus Christ, a fictitious char- 
acter, located in the obscure country of Palestine. Those 
initiated into the sacred mysteries knew the Gospel sto- 
ries were false, but considered it necessary to keep up the 
imposition for the purpose of propagandism. 

But while this transition of faith was going on, some of 
the more conscientious teachers began to tell the people 
that the Jesus Christ they were worshipping was not a 
real historical personage. This was regarded by the con- 
servative priests as a dangerous disclosure, and so John 



ANTICHF.IST NOT A LIAR. 3 

■denounces the innovators as liars and Antichrists, know- 
ing that he himself and his fellow priests were the pious 
liars, and that the Antichrists were telling the truth. 
But truth, especially historical truth, was not mighty in 
those days. Error prevailed, and the mythical Christ 
became the historical Jesus, supported by testimony that 
would be scouted by any reasonable tribunal. For 1,500 
years those who dared to doubt the truth of the testi- 
mony have been vilified and crushed by the power of the 
priests. Now some of these very " ambassadors of Christ " 
are beginning to concede that the testimony is not alto- 
gether true. By-and-by they may find that it is entirely 
false as regards the history- of their deified Son of God.* 



CHAPTEE 11. 

INSPIRATION GIVEN UP. 

Plenary inspiration, the sheet-anchor of Christianity, 
has undergone such fearful strains of late that it is about 
to be abandoned. Its untenableness has long been ap- 
parent to the most enlightened of the Christian crew. 
Many have striven, by substituting partial for plenary, 
to save the ship, but in vain ; the mended anchor was 
as unsafe as the damaged one. So at last they are be- 
ginning to cry out, "Cut her adrift; the old anchor is of 
no use anyhow ; there isn't going to be much of a storm, 

* A fictitious character does uot preclude the existence of a real 
one with leading traits of resemblance. Indeed there may be many 
archetypes, as in the case of William Tell, who is now proved to be 
a myth ; yet a similar legend is told in other countries besides 
Switzerland, and doubtless the feat he is said to have performed has 
been repeated many a time in the world's history. Our hypothesis 
in regard to the origin of the Gospal fiction is based mainly on the 
lack of historical evidence of the existence of such a Jesus as the 
Evangelists describe in the early part of the first century. 



4 INSPIKATION GIVEN UP. 

and the ship will get into port, safely moored, without 
any anchor." 

This is not fancy, but fact. The Independent is one 
of the leading organs of Christianity. Its theology may 
be a little loose, but theology anyhow is an uncertain 
thing. Hard-shell Christians may question its Orthodoxy, 
but to rule it out of the ring of evangelical Christianity 
would be to break up the foundation of Protestantism. 

Hear now what the Rev. Augustus Blauvelt, D. D., one 
of the ablest writers for the Independent^ says in that 
paper of August 13, 1874 : 

"Let anyone continue, therefore, to hold the purely personal 
opinion that the Bible is verbally inspired who can do so, as mil- 
iions can and will. But it is not an opinion about the Bible which 
can in these days be so triumphantly estabUshed, in defiance of the 
more powerful modern objections, as to settle the modern unsettle- 

ment about the leading features of the Christian faith Well, 

therefore, may the Kev. Mr. Hunt, a conspicuous Christian con- 
tributor to The Contemporary Remew, recently exhort : * Let Prot- 
estant England [and we would add, let Protestant America] learn 
from Protestant Germany that the principle of resting Christianity 
on the formal canon of Scripture is hopeless. Let all theories of 

inspiration be dismissed, that every work on Bible learning may 

not be, as in recent days it has been, the occasion of a new rehgious 
panic and a disturbance to the faith of Christians.' Even in the 
judgment of multitudes of the most intelligent Christians living, 
therefore, it may be regarded settled that it will be impossible to 
save the belief in so much as the leading spiritual features of Chris- 
tianity if, despite modern objections, the effort be made to save 
that belief by maintaining the Orthodox dogma of the inspii-ati^ f 
the Bible." 

Dr. Blauvelt wants to avoid " a new religious panic " 
every time " a new work on Bible learning " is issued, 
unconscious that he himself is creating the newest and 
most dismal panic that Christianity has yet known. To 
save the belief in the "leading spiritual features of 
Christianity," he says it is necessary to give up the 



INSPIRATION GIVEN UP. 5 

dogma of inspiration, whicli he characterizes as ^^ an 
egregious Orthodox theological absurdity,'' having "noth- 
ing whatever practically to do with saving the belief in 
the leading spiritual features of Christianity." Having 
abandoned this " obsolete defence," as he terms it, the 
Doctor proposes to defend Christianity as " a purely his- 
torical question, and argues thus : 

" One wbose sole object is the discovery of truth, might, for ex- 
ample, precisely as well demand the guarantee of the dogma of in- 
spiration for the historical records of the career of Christ as for 

those of the career of Caesar Hardly a worse mistake can be 

committed in dealing with most skeptics at the present day, than to 

begin by insisting upon the inspiration of the Bible We should 

make it our first aim to substantiate the great facts which are re- 
corded in the New Testament We must meet the skeptic on the 

ordinary level of historical investigation Unless he can be satis- 
fied of the credibility of the Gospels in these main particulars, it is 
useless to go further and attempt to convince him that this body of 
w^ri tings is the product of divine inspiration, much less that they 
contain no sort of error." 

Freethinkers, do you hear that ? Your standard pub- 
lications against the Bible are all obsolete. The warfare 
is ended, peace declared, and you are invited to join the 
new Broad Church of Dr. Blauvelt. You have been as- 
sailing the dogma of inspiration, and Christians have 
been defending it as the bulwark of Christianity, until at 
length they discover that it is not only indefensible, but 
useless. They have been defending a false issue. One 
may deny inspiration and no longer be called an Infidel 
— may reject revelation and no longer be called a Deist. 
Henceforth you are all to be gathered into one fold and 
called Christians, provided you concede the historical ex- 
istence of Jesus, and accept so much of his teachings as 
commend themselves to your judgment and conscience; 
for surely in the new dispensation the Protestant prin- 
ciple of the right of private judgment is not to be denied 



6 INSPIRATION GIVEN UP. 

as applied to the words of Christ, any more than to the 
rest of the hitherto falsely so-called Word of God. Be- 
sides, as Dr. Blauvelt himself admits, the first aim will be 
" to substantiate the great facts which are recorded in the 
New Testament," and this is to be done " on the ordinary 
level of historical investigation:" so that the precepts 
given, the words spoken, and the claims set up by Christ, 
are first to be tested by historical proof, and then by an 
appeal to reason and conscience. Of course, history will 
fail to establish all the facts, and some of the precepts, at 
least, will be found seK-contradictory or at variance with 
reason and conscience, so that great latitude of belief 
must be allowed, even to the denial of the divinity of 
Christ. 

Perhaps Dr. Blauvelt has not thought of this. He may 
think it an easy thing to establish the leading facts of the 
New Testament by historic proof, but he will find not 
only these, but all the facts, so barren of proof that even 
the fact of the historical existence of Jesus will fade into 
fiction. O Doctor ! in abandoning the outworks of in- 
spiration and retiring to the historical citadel of your 
high priest and king I fear you will find that he is not 
there, and never was there — that he was never aught 
but the creature of pious fiction, like his prototype, 
Christna of India.* 

* The above was published in the Boston Investigator, in October, 
1874. Indeed it was the first of a series of articles signed " Anti- 
OHBisT," and but for the welcome with which it was received by the 
Editor, who announced that Antichrist had come, and hoped to 
hear from him often, this work might not have been undertaken. 
Two years later, Dr. Blauvelt was suspended by the Classis of 
Kingston, N, Y., for heterodoxy, and upon an appeal to the General 
Synod the decision of the Classis was affirmed. 



CHAPTER III. 

WAS CHRIST EVER BORN? 

The great Congregational preacher of Brooklyn latel;f 
spoke of the story of the Garden of Eden as a "parable." 
Twenty-five years ago he would not have dared to do it. 
He is now completing a "Life of Christ." Would he 
dare to hint, even, in that work that the birth of Christ 
is a fable ? No, not yet ; but twenty-five years hence 
many Christian ministers will probably say it boldly, and 
with as much safety as Mr. Beecher now speaks of the 
" parable of the fall." His " Life of Christ," volume II, 
may perhaps prove a success, as the first volume has done, 
but Antichkist prophecies that before the 'year 1900 the 
whole work will be "knocked higher than a kito.'' 
Beecher no more believes that Christ was born of a virgin 
than we do ; nor do many of the most enlightened cler- 
gymen believe it. Mark and John are silent about the 
nativity, and the earliest and most intelligent Christian 
sect, the Gnostics, maintained that Christ was never born. 

Is any argument needed to discredit so manifest a 
myth ? If so, consider the remarkable fact that the date 
of the nativity cannot be fixed. — Says Chambers's Ency- 
clopedia : 

" The date- of the birth of Jesus is now generally fixed a few years 
— at least four years — before the commencement of the Christian 
era. The reasons of this opinion we cannot here state, but it may 
be observed that the reckoning of dates from the birth of Christ 
did not begin till the 6th century, when error on such a point was 
very probable. The precise date of the birth of Jesus, however, 
cannot be determined, nor can the year of his death be much more 
confidently stated. The common computation fixes his death in 33 
A. D., or when he was probably at least 37 years of age. As to the 
month or day of the birth of Jesus nothing is known, although the 



8 WAS CHRIST EVER BORN? 

circumstance that shepherds were watching their flocks by night, 
makes it very certain that it did not take place at that time at which 
the festival of Christmas is held." 

The error of the date first fixed for the bh'th of Christ 
was a very natural one. Dionysius, a Roman abbot, by 
nation a Scythian, undertook from rehgious motives to 
estabhsh a Christian era. This was in the early part of 
the 6th century. Taking as the basis of calculation the 
statement of Luke, that when Jesus was baptized by John 
he began to be about 30 years of age, and that John be- 
gan to baptize in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, and 
allowing one year for John's prior ministry, the birth of 
Jesus would fall 14 years before Tiberius became Em- 
peror. The calculation was a very simple one, based 
upon the figures of Luke, the only Evangelist who at- 
tempts to give dates. But Dionysius and his fellow 
priests overlooked one important fact, viz., that Herod, 
who, according to Matthew, ordered a slaughter of infants 
in the hope of destroying the little rival to his throne, 
died three or four years before the date of the birth of 
Jesus, as they had fixed it. So the churchmen of later 
times, in order to save the story of Matthew, have been 
compelled to set back the birth of their God at least foui' 
years, to the serious detriment of Luke, who should have 
made Jesus at least 34 years of age instead of 30, when 
he was baptized by John. 

But a set-back of more than four years is necessary to 
accommodate the story of Matthew, who sends the infant 
Jesus to Egypt to escape the massacre, and keeps him 
there until the death of Herod. The period of the so 
journ in Egypt is not stated by Matthew, but in the 
Gospel of the Infancy, a book of almost if not quite equal 
antiquity to Matthew, it is three years. (Ch. 25.) If, 
therefore, the story is to be credited at all, the birth of 



WAS CHRIST EVER BORN? 9 

Christ must be fixed about 7 b. c, whicb would make him 
37 at his baptism.* 

Alas ! poor Luke ! Your pitiful attempt at chronology 
has betrayed you. Was it the Holy Ghost that misled 
you into an error of from four to seven years 1 Oh ! no, 
for inspiration is played out now ; the more sensible and 
progressive Christians have given it up, and defend their 
system on a purely historical basis. No inspiration is 
needed to inform the world that .Christ was " about 30 
years of age " when he was at least 34, and probably over 
37. Any profane historian would guess hearer than that. 
It is bad enough for the Holy Ghost to confess that he 
seduced the innocent and confiding Marj^, without falsi- 
fying the chronology of the scandalous affair. If it was 
he who inspired the record of Matthew and Luke, he is 
a worse liar than Antichrist was in the pretended esti- 
mation of John. 

Is it not a most remarkable, nay, humiliating fact, if 
indeed so great and good a man as Christ is claimed to 
be did exist, leaving out of view his disputed divinity, 
and if his birth and death w^ere such public and conspic- 
uous events as they are described to be, that there should 
be no record of the date of either event, and nothing to 
fix it within at least four years ? Of what great histori- 
cal personage within the last 2,000 years are the birth 
and death involved in such obscurity and uncertainty ? 

* Indeed, Appletou's New Cyclopedia and McClintock & Strong's 
Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature now concede that the birth of 
Christ must have been at least as early as 6 b. c. 



CHAPTER IV. 

WAS CHRIST CEUCIFIED? 

The year of the alleged crucifixion has never been fixed. 
The date of the death of Christ, like that of his birth, is 
shrouded in uncertainty to the extent of abgut seven years. 
If he had a corporeal existence this would be most extra- 
ordinary ; but if he was only a myth, it would not. In 
the latter case not only the time, but the fact of his death 
would be as unimportant as that of Cock Robin. 

Reason will now sit as an impartial, unbiassed Judge at 
nisi prius, and try the issue. Christianity produces her 
witnesses, four in number, and no more, to wit, Matthew, 
Mark, Luke, and John. The first three testify to substan- 
tially the same facts concerning the crucifixion. The 
defendant. Infidelity, cross-examines them, and elicits 
several material contradictions, but not enough, in the 
opinion of the Court, to nullify their testimony. The 
defendant then raises the point of law that the testimony 
is all hearsay, none of the three witnesses having been 
present when the alleged event occurred. The Court rules 
that this being a theological question, he will not enforce 
the strict laws of evidence. Counsel for defendant notes 
an exception. 

The fourth witness, John, is called. The first three 
have testified that the crucifixion took place on Friday, 
which was the first day of the feast of the Passover. 
John agrees with them in fixing the day on Friday, but 
says it was the day before the Passover. Here is a vital 
contradiction. The Passover was a memorable festival 
of the Jews, like our 4th of July. It continued a week, 
and the first day of the festival was as solemn and sacred 
a day as the Sabbath. No truthful historian could be 



WAS CHRIST CRUCIFIED? 11 

mistaken as to whether a pubhc trial and execution took 
place on such an annual festival or some other day. 
That Matthew, Mark, and Luke do fix it on the first day 
of the Passover is beyond question; that John fixes it 
on the day before is equally certain by reference to chap- 
ters xiii, 27, 29, and xix, 14, 31, where he says that Christ 
sent Judas out to fulfil his mission, the other eleven dis- 
ciples not understanding what he meant, but supposing it 
was to buy what they "had need of against the feast/' 
that is, the Passover feast which was yet to come ; and 
where, also, the crucifixion is described as occurring on 
the day of " the preparation of the Passover" the next 
day being not only a Sabbath, but a " high day " — that is, 
the first and most solemn day of the Passover week, which 
in this instance fell on the Sabbath, or Saturday. 

The plaintiff here rests his case, having not a single 
further witness, even by hearsay, of the most remarkable 
event in the world's history, if true. The defendant 
moves to dismiss the case, the plaintiff 's witnesses having 
contradicted one another in regard to a most vital fact. 
The Court denies the motion on the ground that the jury 
may take the alternative, to believe either the three wit- 
nesses who agree as to the day when the event occurred, 
or the one witness, John, who fixes another day. Coun- 
sel for defendant notes another exception to the ruling,, 
and then presents his counter evidence. 

The first witness for the defence is Moses, the reputed 
author of the Pentateuch, who is examined as follows : 

Q. — What kind of a day was the 'first day of the Passover, aud 
how was it observed ? 

A. — It was a day of holy convocation, like unto the Sabbath ; yea, 
even more solemn, inasmuch as it came but once a year. The festi- 
val lasted a whole week, and the first and seventh day were as holy 
as the Sabbath. No servile work could be done on the first and 
seventh day, mu:ch less could any public trial or execution be per- 



12 WAS CHRIST CRUCIFIED'? 

mitted on those solemn feast days — (Ex. xii, 16 ; Lev. xxiii, 7, 8 ; 
Num. xxviii, 18, 25; Deut. xvi, 8.) 

Counsel for plaintiff objects to the testimony of Moses 
as incompetent, modern criticism having proved that he 
did not write the Pentateuch, and that it is not histori- 
cally true. Cites Colenso on the Pentateuch. 

The Court — The objection comes too late ; it has al- 
ready been overruled in the plaintiff 's favor by admitting 
the testimony of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. What is 
sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. As to the 
Pentateuch being true or false, the Court cannot regard 
that question as settled upon the recent authority of 
Bishop Colenso, until that authority is more generally 
accepted by the Christian Church. 

Moses cross-examined : 

Q. — Your knowledge of the observance of the Passover is of course 
confined to the time when you wrote, and you cannot testify as to 
the thousand years or more of Jewish history after your time ? 

A. — Certainly not. 

Q. — So there may have been public trials and executions on Pass- 
over feast days since you governed the Jews ? 

A. — Certainly. My people may have become corrupt and degen- 
erate, and may have broken the laws of God as I recorded them. 

Rabbi Isaac N. Wise is next called and examined as 
follows : 

Q. — As a Jewish priest and reputed to be learned in Jewish law 
and history, please state what you know about the observance of 
the first day of the Passover, and whether it ever occurred on Fri- 
day ? 

A. — Allow me to answer by quoting from a book of mine entitled 
The Origin of Christianity, page 30 : "In the first place the Jews 
did no public business on that day ; had no court sessions, no trials, 
and certainly no executions ou any Sabbath or feast day. And in 
the second place, the first day of the Passover never was on a Fri- 
daj^, and never can be, according to established principles of the 
Jewish calendar." 



WAS CHRIST CRUCIFIED? 13 

Q. — How do you account for the contradiction by John in fixing 
the crucifixion on the day before the Passover feast ? 

A. (Reading further.) — "John, in consideration of these and 
several other objections, omits the paschal meal and the Lord's Sup- 
per altogether, and adopts the day before the feast as the day of 
the crucifixion. If it had been at all certain when Jesus was cruci- 
fied, John could not set aside the statements of the Synoptics and 
adopt another day. The Synoptics adopted the first day of the 
Passover because they taught the dogma that Jesus died to redeem 
all sinners. The fact concerning the day was shaped to suit the 
dogma. Israel was redeemed from Egyptian bondage on the day 
celebrated ever after that event as the feast of the Passover ; there- 
fore the death of Jesus, the second redemption, must have taken 

place [according to the Synoptics] on the self-same day But this 

is impossible." 

The defendant here closes his case and offers to sul> 
mit it to the jury upon the charge of the Court, which the 
plaintiff agrees to. The Judge thereupon charges the 
jury as follows : 

Gentlemen, there is but one fact in this case for you to 
determine, namely, Was Christ crucified ? There is a most 
extraordinary conflict of evidence as to that fact. If you 
believe Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who say that the cruci- 
fixion occurred on Friday, the first day of the Passover, 
then you are compelled to discredit Eabbi Wise, Moses, 
and John, the latter being one of the plaintiff's own 
witnesses. Moses, it is true, could not speak of the ages 
after the time when he wrote, but the defendant has sup- 
plemented the testimony of Moses by that of Wise, who 
affirms positively, first, that no public trials or executions 
ever occurred on the first day of the Passover, and second, 
that that day never fell on Friday, according to the Jewish 
calendar. It is therefore for you to decide whether to 
believe Matthew, Mark, and Luke on the one hand, or 
Moses, John, and Wise on the other. If the former, then 
you impeach not only the defendant's two witnesses, but 



14 WAS CHRIST CRUCIFIED? 

one of the plaintiff 's likewise, namely, John. But if you 
discredit Matthew, Mark, and Luke, then the fact of the 
crucifixion will rest solely upon the testimony of John ; 
and the Court instructs you that a controverted fact 
like this cannot be established upon the unsupported 
evidence of a single witness. So important an event as 
the crucifixion requires more proof than the bare state- 
ment of John, especially as he contradicts flatly the other 
three witnesses for the plaintiff upon a point about which 
they could not be mistaken if they were telling the truth. 
It is a most serious and vital conflict of testimony, and 
the Court can see no way for you to bring in a verdict for 
the plaintiff, but by discrediting Wise, John, and Moses. 
If, on the other hand, you discredit Matthew, Mark, and 
Luke, your verdict must be for the defendant, because in 
that case the fact that Christ was crucified is at least not 
proven. 



CHAPTER V. 

« YES, YOU AKE MISTAKEN. 

"Are we still mistaken ? " inquires a "Subscriber," who, 
after examining the accounts of the crucifixion, finds that 
the four Evangelists "all say it was on the day of the 
preparation, and that they agree in their statements." 
" Subscriber" did not look quite far enough. While Mat- 
thew speaks ambiguously of " the preparation " (xxvii, 62) 
as if it had occurred on the day before the crucifixion, 
Mark distinctly says (xv, 42) "it was the preparation, 
that is, the day before \hQ Sabbath;'' and Luke says 
(xxiii, 54) it " was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew 
on." But John says (xix, 14) " it was the preparation of 
the Passover.'' There is exactly the discrepancy between 



YES, YOU ARE MISTAKEN. 15 

the Synoptics and John. The former have Christ cruci- 
fied on the Passover day which preceded the Sabbath ; 
the latter on the day before the Passover, making that 
yearly festival fall on the Sabbath instead of the day 
before, the way the Synoptics have it. Suppose Mark 
Twain, Artemas Ward, and Josh Billings should each 
WTite a story about Yankee Doodle being tried and hung 
at Washington on Sunday, the 4th of July, right in the 
midst of the celebration of that anniversary. It might 
deceive the heathens of Australia, but Americans would 
understand the joke. Ask any intelligent Jew if they ever 
tried or executed a person on the first day of the Pass- 
over ; or if it ever fell on Friday according to the Jewish 
calendar. John, the latest and smartest of the Evangel- 
ists, thought it was time to correct the error, and so he 
fixed the Passover one day later. 



CHAPTER VI. 

DID CHRIST DIE? 

A SINGULAR question — Did Christ die % If he lived he 
must have died, unless like Enoch and Elijah he was 
translated. But Antichrist has shown — 1st, That his 
alleged ascension rests upon the solitary statement of the 
anonymous writer of Luke's Gospel ; 2d, That his alleged 
birth is a manifest myth, about which Mark and John are 
significantly silent, while Luke, in attempting to fix dates, 
exposes the falsehood of Matthew's story of the massacre 
of the innocents and the flight into Egypt ; and 3d, That 
the alleged death of Christ could not have occurred on the 
day fixed by the Synoptics, and therefore in fact cannot 
be proved to have occurred at all ; for such must be the 



16 DID CHRIST DIE? 

verdict upon the evidence submitted to the jury on the 
trial reported in Chapter IV. 

So, then, the ascension, birth, and death of Christ 
being barren of proof, what remains of his alleged history 
of any value, even if true ? His resurrection, of course, 
must be set aside until his death is proven. But of all 
the events narrated by the four Evangelists, that of the 
resurrection is the least credible, the evidence being most 
absurd and contradictory, as has been shown again and 
again by professed followers of and believers in the his- 
torical Jesus of the New Testament — for instance, the 
late Theodore Parker. 

O deluded Christian ! On what a frail foundation are 
the walls of your Zion reared ! Your rock Christ Jesus 
has crumbled to dust. His alleged resurrection and as- 
cension are idle tales, his miraculous birth a superstitious 
fable, and his ignominious death an audacious falsehood. 

Alas ! your Saviour did not bleed, 
Nor did your Sovereign die. 

But, it will be asked, did not a man named Jesus die ? 
This question resolves itself into another one, namely, 
Did the Jesus described in the New Testament ever live ? 
Distasteful as this question is to many Freethinkers, 
Antichkist considers it the most important one of the day. 
Its discussion has barely begun, and like all new radical 
questions, it is obnoxious even to many opponents of the 
Christian superstition. " The fashion of regarding the 
four Gospels as wilful fabrications," says the anti-Chris- 
tian editor of the Index, " has never been in favor with 
scholars, nor that of regarding them as absolutely devoid 
of historical value." Very true ; but scholars are the very 
last recruits for an army of martyrs, or even for a battalion 
of Iconoclasts. And yet the martyr and the iconoclast, 
by the dreadful tutelage which they undergo, often be- 



DID CHRIST DIE? 17 

come the most thorough and practical scholars, though 
ignored as such in their day and generation. 

Some of the main points of evidence against the exist- 
ence of Jesus are as follows : 

1. The absolute silence of contemporaneous history. 

2. The forgery of facts to prove his existence by early 
Christian writers ; such as the celebrated passage in Jo- 
sephus, which was interpolated between the time of Ori- 
gen, A. D. 230, and that of Eusebius, a. d. 325. 

3. The complete destruction of the antichristian writ- 
iiigs, and preservation of only the Christian version of 
the arguments against Christianity. 

4. The arguments of the Christian Fathers in favor of 
a historical Christ were almost entirely based on fanciful 
interpretations of fragmentary passages from the Hebrew 
prophets ; and in the few instances where appeals were 
made to history, it is impossible to verify that histoiy, or 
even to find the record. 

5. The proof adduced by Paul and other writers of the 
New Testament epistles is of a like character, to wit, an 
appeal to prior Scriptures to prove the advent and death 
of Christ. 

6. It is by no means certain what kind of a Christ Paul 
and the other epistolary writers meant — whether a real (or 
pretended) person who existed in their time, or one who 
lived long before, or a mythical, ideal being. 

On this last point Anticheist would lay great stress. 
The four Gospels being set aside as worthless evidence, 
including the greater part of Acts, purporting to be writ- 
ten by Luke, and as manifest a fiction as any of the rest 
of his Gospel history, we have left of the New Testament 
not a scrap of historical proof of the existence of such a 
man as Jesus. It is true that the Epistles are full of the 
mj'stery of Christ crucified, but the mystery is only a mys- 



18 DID CHRIST DIE? 

tification. The only authentic Epistles are those of Paul, 
and only a part even of these. The Christ of Christen- 
dom is the Pauline Christ, the historical existence of whom 
depends upon what Paul believed and taught. Now Paul 
was a mystic. He preached " Christ crucified " — imply- 
ing that others preached Christ not crucified. He (or 
rather some other writer assuming his name) says, in 2 
Tim. ii, 8, Christ " was raised from the dead according to 
my Gospel " — implying that according to some other Gos- 
pel he was not raised from the dead. Paul never saw 
Jesus except in imagination, (1 Cor. xv, 8,) and never met 
but two or three of the so-called Apostles, namely, Peter 
(or rather Cephas,) James, and John, (Gal. i, 18, 19, and 
ii, 9.) Query : Who was this Cephas mentioned by Paul 
many years before the Evangelists wrote their Gospels % 
And who was this James, the brother of the Lord, and 
what kind of a brother was he to the Son of God % And 
who was the Lord Jesus Christ that appeared to Paul in 
an abnormal state, or as to " one born out of due time," 
that is, prematurely horn f Kejecting as pure fiction his 
miraculous conversion, with all its accompaniments, as 
recorded in Acts, but not at all corroborated by Paul 
himself in his Epistles, and making due allowance for in- 
terpolations and mystifications in his writings, may not 
all he wrote concerning Christ apply as w^ell to the an- 
cient Hindoo Christna as to the Jesus whose fabulous bi- 
ography was afterwards composed as a fiction, but after 
the lapse of a century or two came to be credited by the 
multitude as fact ? 

A singular passage in regard to the death of Christ is 
found in Acts v, 30, where Peter is reported as addi-ess- 
ing the Jews in Jerusalem, not very many days after the 
crucifixion, in these words : " Jesus, whom ye slew and 
hanged on a tree/' and he repeats the same afterwards 



DID CHKIST DIE? 19 

to Cornelius and bis company, (x. 39.) Stoning to death 
an.d then hanging on a tree was the Jewish mode of exe- 
cution ; crucifixion the Eoman mode. Hence Rabbi Wise 
insists that these words could not have been uttered either 
by Peter, the speaker, or by Luke, the writer, both of 
whom must have known the Jewish mode of execution ; 
and he infers that the words were interpolated by an ig- 
norant transcriber, ("Origin of Christianity," p. 150.) But 
the expression seems to accord with that of the unauthen- 
tic 1st Epistle of Peter, ii, 24 : " Who bare our sins in his 
own body on the tree;' also with the passage in the gen- 
uine Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, iii, 13 : '^ Christ 
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made 
a curse for us ; for it is written (Query : Where ?) Cursed 
is every one that hangeth on a tree.'' It is common to 
hear the cross spoken of as a tree, but this is a confusion 
of ideas. In Deut. xxi, 22, 23, the mode of punishment 
by stoning to death and then hanging on a tree is men- 
tioned. It seems to have been derived from Egypt ; for 
Joseph says to the chief baker, " Yet within three days 
shall Pharoah lift up thy head from off thee, and shall 
hang thee on a tree'' (Gen. xl, 19.) Three hundred years 
later Joshua slew five kings of Gibeon and " hanged them 
on five trees." (Josh, x, 26.) It is a fair inference, there- 
fore, that when the New Testament writers spoke of Jesus 
being slain and hanged on a tree, they meant exactly what 
they said, and believed it just as much as they believed the 
crucifixion — that is, they did not believe either in the lit- 
eral sense ; but, to those at least who were initiated into 
the mystery of godliness, the death of the Son of God 
was only a figure of speech. No wonder it was to the 
benighted Jews a stumbling-block, and to the skeptical 
Greeks foolishness. 



CHAPTER Vn. 
THE KESUERECTION OF CHRIST. 

The story of the Resurrection of Christ is a pitiful 
muddle. Each of the four Evangelists is at loggerheads 
with the rest, and all of them with Paul, the earliest 
writer. 

According to Matthew, Jesus met two Marys just after 
leaving the sepulchre, and told them to tell his breth- 
ren to go and meet him in Galilee ; and no meeting of 
Jesus and his disciples is mentioned except in fulfil- 
ment of this appointment, in a mountain, 60 or 80 miles 
distant. Not only does Matthew omit the memorable 
meeting on the evening of the resurrection day, as re- 
corded by Luke and John, but he plainly implies that 
there was no such meeting. 

According to Mark, Jesus did not meet the two women, 
but they received their instruction to tell the disciples to 
go and meet him in Galilee from a young man in a long 
white garment, who was sitting inside the sepulchre. This 
is all Mark says ; but some priest after the fourth century 
appends to the narrative the story of the appearance of 
Jesus, first to Mary Magdalene, next to two disciples who 
were strolling into the country, and lastly to the eleven as 
they sat at meat. This priestly appendix was of course 
borrowed from Luke, or some other gospel story-teller 
later than Mark. It is wanting in the oldest manuscripts, 
and is rejected by orthodox scholars. The ascension of 
Christ, therefore, is left to rest solely upon the testimony 
of the writer of the third Gospel. 

According to Luke, there was no appearance of Jesus 
to Mary or any other woman, but he first appeared to two 
of the disciples on their way to Emmaus, seven and a half 



I 



THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 21 



miles distant from Jerusalem. But though he spoke to 
them they did not recognize either the voice or visage of 
their Master, who had been absent from their sight only 
two days. And when he joined in the conversation they 
marvelled at his seeming ignorance of the momentous 
events that had just transpired. But when they had in- 
formed him of the facts, and especially of the reported re- 
surrection of Jesus, made known to certain women by " a 
vision of angels," he began to argue from the Scriptures 
that it must be true. So well pleased were they with his 
exposition that, though he was intending to travel further, 
they constrained him to tarry with them ; and not until 
he asked a blessing over the evening meal did they recog- 
nize their divine Master. Nothing could excite their sus- 
picion that he was Jesus but his style of saying grace ! 
But no sooner had he done it than he vanished out of 
sight. He had consented to tarry with them, but all at 
once he took French leave without stopping to eat his 
supper. Then the two disciples rose up and returned to 
Jerusalem, where they found the eleven and others gath- 
ered together discussing the resurrection, founded on the 
appearance of the Lord to one of their number, Simon. 
So these two disciples told the marvellous story of his 
appearance to them, and as they were telling it, lo ! 
he reappeared before them all. And now to prove his 
identity he adopts a more sensible method than before, 
by simply showing his hands and feet. But this evidence 
being insufficient, he proposes to prove to them that he 
is not a spirit by showing how he can eat. It was about 
time for him to be hungry, having left Emmaus without 
supper and travelled seven or eight miles on an empty 
stomach. So he took and ate what they offered him-^— a 
piece of broiled fish and honey-comb. What a queer 
mixture ! — something like oysters and sugar. But even 



22 THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 

this pertormance failed to convince them, and, as a last 
resort, he had to open their understanding by expound- 
ing the Scriptures concerning himself. This we must 
presume was effective, though Luke does not say so. 
True, it failed in the first instance with the two travel- 
lers, and it seems strange that he did not resort to the 
same method that proved so successful with them. How 
easy to prove his identity by saying grace over the fish 
and honey ! 

According to John, Jesus first appeared to Mary Mag- 
dalene, and to no one else until evening, when ten (not 
eleven) disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews I 
Jews assembled for fear of the Jews ! Credat Judmus 
Appella! But the incredulity of the disciples, about 
which Luke tells us so particularly, is entirely exploded 
by John. Jesus had only to show his hands and feet 
and they were satisfied. No eating nor exposition of the 
prophecies was necessary to prove his identity. But 
Thomas, who was absent, could not believe it upon the 
testimony of the other ten. He was like some obstinate 
Materialists of our day, who won't believe in spirit mani- 
festations upon the testimony of all their friends, but in- 
sist on witnessing and testing the phenomena them- 
selves. So after eight days, which theologians tell us 
mean seven, John has another meeting at which the 
eleven are all present, and Thomas, the obdurate skeptic, 
after thrusting his finger into Jesus's side, is convinced, 
and exclaims, " My Lord and my God ! " Whether this 
exclamation was a recognition of Christ's divinity, or a 
sort of profane rhapsody, may be a nice question of 
critical exegesis. Antichrist will venture no opinion 
about it. 

This second meeting of the disciples is mentioned by 
John only, who also gives an account of a third meeting 



THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 23 

of Jesus with the eleven at the Sea of Tiberias, distant 
about 70 miles from Jerusalem. What a strolling set of 
disciples ; and how strangely their master shunned them ! 
Now mark the harmony of these inspired Gospels. 
Matthew has no appearance of Jesus to anybody but the 
two Marys, until he met the disciples far away in Galilee. 
Mark has no appearance of Jesus to anybody at all — only 
a ghost inside the sepulchre which frightens away the 
tw^o Marys and Salome, who had gone there expecting to 
find the dead body of Jesus. Luke, like Mark, has no ap- 
pearance of Jesus to the women, but instead of one has 
two materialized spirits about the sepulchre, who remind 
the two Marys, Joanna and other women, that Jesus had 
promised to rise the third day. Then Luke makes Jesus 
appear first to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, 
and afterwards to the eleven at Jerusalem. Who were these 
two strolling disciples that met Jesus wandering away 
in disguise on the first Christian Sabbath ? Luke names 
one of them Cleopas. Doubtless the same that John 
speaks of as Cleophas, the husband of one of the Marys, 
(John xix, 25,) who was present at the crucifixion. In 
order to harmonize the Gospel narratives and maintain 
the truth of Luke, who at least implies that the two 
travellers were apostles, commentators conjecture that 
this Cleophas, or Cleopas, or Clopas, was James. The 
process by which they do it would do credit to an expert 
thimble-rigger. In the Greek of John xix, 25, it is liter- 
ally "Mary the of Cleophas." So to make good English 
the word " wife " is interpolated. Very good. 'But, say 
they, it may as well mean "mother." Very true. Now 
Luke, say they further, mentions a Mary at the cross, 
"the mother of James and Joses," and as Paul says that 
Christ "was seen of James," why may not the Cleopas 



24 THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 

mentioned by Luke be another name for James ? Now 
you see it, don't you ? 

Compare now what John says about the resurrection. 
He makes Jesus appear first to Mary Magdalene alone, 
and then the same day at evening to ten of the disciples. 
He knows nothing of the presence of Matthew's " other 
Mary," or of Mark's " Salome," or of Luke's "Joanna and 
other women," or of the appearance to the two disciples on 
the way to Emmaus. But John sets forth a second meet- 
ing of the disciples, apparently for the purpose of convinc- 
ing the doubting Thomas — a gathering which the other 
Evangelists know nothing about — and still a third meet- 
ing away olf in Galilee at some subsequent but indefinite 
time. And then observe that only Luke of the four 
Evangelists thinks it important to tell us what became of 
the risen eJesus. Matthew and Mark leave him in Galilee, 
Luke sends him up into Heaven, and John leaves him at 
Lake Tiberias. So far as three of the Gospel historians 
are concerned Jesus may have become a wandering Jew. 

But now compare Paul's earlier account of the resur- 
rection with the Gospel history. In 1 Cor., chap, xv, Paul 
says, " Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 
was buried, and rose again the third day according to the 
Scriptures." It was all according to the Scriptures which 
he had " received " and " delivered " unto them " first of 
all," including his Gospel elsewhere mentioned, accord- 
ing to which Christ was crucified. The first appearance 
of the risen Christ, Paul says, was to Cephas, and then 
to the twelve. Indeed ! Then Judas must have come to 
life too ! No, that won't do, because Paul makes the 
resurrection of Christ "the first fruits," and "afterward 
they that are Christ's at his coming" are to be raised, 
leaving no room for any intermediate raising of such a 
fellow as Judas. So one of two things is certain — either 



THE RESUREECTION OF CHRIST. 25 

Paul had not heard about Judas's suicide, or he did not 
believe it. And the same also about the story of filling 
Judas's vacant place by a raffle, (Acts i, 26.) Paul knew 
of no vacancy in the apostolical college until he himself 
was called by Jesus in a vision to fill it, when we must 
presume that one of the twelve had stepped down and 
out. 

But who was this Cephas who first saw Christ ? Why, 
Peter, of course, some will say, because Cephas was the 
name which John says Jesus gave to Simon, alias Peter. 
In Greek, Peter means a stone ; so when Jesus was in- 
troduced to Peter he says " you shall be called Cephas, 
which means the same as Peter." It is as if a wag should 
say, " Captain Stone, you're a brick, so I'll call you Captain 
Brick." Well, supposing Paul's Cephas means Simon 
Peter (which no one knows) it is singular that none of the 
Evangelists confirm this appearance to Peter except Luke, 
who says that the eleven as they were gathered together 
were saying that the Lord had appeared to Simon ; and 
yet Simon could hardly be convinced at the second ap- 
pearance of Jesus even after he beheld his hands and feet, 
saw him eat fish and honey, and heard him harangue about 
Moses and the prophets. Well might Jesus say to such 
skeptics, " O fools and slow of heart to believe all that 
the prophets have spoken." 

It is useless to pursue Paul's third, fourth, fifth, and 
sixth appearance of Christ — namely, to five hundred 
brethren at once, then to James, then to all the Apostles, 
(i. e., a second time to the twelve, Judas of course in- 
cluded,) and last of all to Paul himself as to " an abor- 
tion^' {ektromati.) If those who saw these apparitions 
were " fools and slow of heart to believe " then, how 
much allowance ought Christians to make for those in our 
day who can't swallow such spook stories "? Antichrist 



26 THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 

has charity for babes in Christ who fatten on such food, 
for he was one of them once himself. He can further- 
more sympathize with those who have been imposed upon 
by counterfeit " Katie Kings " and other false manifesta- 
tions, for he himself has been in like manner deceived. 
But whem men who have long since eschewed the Chris- 
tian superstition become recreant to their long cherished 
rationalistic principles, and with all the apparent zeal of 
a Jesuit attempt to uphold the Christian faith by appeals 
to modern Spiritual phenomena to sustain these ancient 
idle tales about a materialized Jesus, it is difficult to un- 
derstand or ajopreciate such a change of heart. What- 
ever truth there may be in modern materializations th© 
Gospel story of the resurrection is too thin. 



CHAPTER YIII. 
NO CONTEMPOEARY EECORD OF CHRIST. 

It is a pretty safe logical deduction that where there 
is smoke there must be fire ; but if the smoke turns out 
to be dust, the fire is a phantasm. For fifteen centuries 
a cloud of theological dust has enveloped Christendom, 
and has been mistaken for the smoke of an imaginary fire, 
supposed to have been kindled in Judea 1850 years ago 
by the incarnate Son of God. In the darkness of this 
cloud the grand central object of Christian sight has 
been an invisible Christ, apparent only to the eye of faith '; 
for faith, you know, is "the evidence of things not seen." 

When Essenism had assumed the name of Christianity ; 
when the mythical Christ became transformed into a pre- 
tended historical Jesus ; when the obscure Epistles of the 
first century were supplemented in the second cenjtury by 
fictitious Memoirs of Jesus and his Apostles ; when the 



NO CONTEMPORARY RECORD OF CHRIST. 27 

mass of Christian converts had accepted the Gospel 
stories concerning the incarnate Deity as fact ; when, in 
short, the Gospels became paramount authority, and the 
maintenance of a historical Christ imperative, then it be- 
came necessary to bring forth something besides Jewish 
and Pagan prophecies to prove his existence. These were 
the bulwarks of primitive Christian faith until it became 
the dominant superstition, and thereafter no historical 
evidence was needed, for skepticism was not tolerated. 
But in the transition stage, when decrepit Paganism was 
dying, and " a new and villanous race of men," as they 
were styled by Suetonius, were establishing in its place a 
"magical superstition," some pretence, at least, of his- 
torical testimony was demanded. But alas ! it was not to 
be found. The writers of the first century were all silent 
as to the contemporary existence of such a man as Jesus. 
Philo, Pliny, Justus, and Josephus had not so much as 
named Jesus Christ nor one of his Apostles, nor noted 
any of- the wonderful events narrated by the Gospel 
writers. Something had to be done to supply the omis- 
sion, and in an uncritical age when forgeries were rife the 
remedy was at hand. 

Josephus was the most prominent and important of the 
contemporary historians. Born in Jerusalem a. d. 37, 
where he resided until the destruction of the city, there- 
after a resident of Rome till about the close of the cen- 
tury, how could the alleged founder of Christianity or his 
disciples escape the notice of the great Jewish historian, 
who had given an accurate account of all the impostors 
or leaders of parties among the Jews ? Many Jesuses 
are mentioned by him and their acts recorded, but no 
Jesus Christ. John the Baptist is not too obscure to de- 
serve a paragraph — in no way, however, confirming the 
Gospel story of his connection with Jesus — but neither 



28 NO OONTEMPORAHY RECORD OF CHRIST, 

Paul nor Peter nor any other Apostle is even named. His 
mention of the stoning of " James, the brother of Jesus," 
was transmuted into a reference to the Apostolic James 
by interpolating the words " who was called Christ." — 
The forgery is so manifest that the passage is no longer 
insisted upon as Christian evidence. 

Origen was the first to falsify Josephus, but Eusebius, 
the father of Church history, capped the climax by fabri- 
cating the celebrated passage about " Jesus, a wise man, 
if it be lawful to call him a man," who " was the Christ," 
who was " condemned to the cross," and who " appeared 
alive again the third day." This audacious forgery has 
served its purpose for 1,500 years. The best Christian 
critics now give it up. 

Where now is to be found in the historical records of 
the first century a single scrap to prove the existence of 
such a person as Jesus Christ, or even of a set of men 
that could be accounted as his personal disciples ? Not 
until the reign of Adrian, a. d. 117, do we light upon the 
first passage from a heathen source mentioning the fact 
of the existence of Christ; but strangely enough this 
passage was discovered only about four centuries ago. 
Tacitus must have completed his " Annals " in Adrian's 
reign, but no Christian writer before the year 1429 dis- 
covered the celebrated passage in the xvth book, which is 
now the last and only profane prop that upholds the tem- 
ple of the historical Christ. It is but a slender support 
at best, and was only placed there when the rottenness 
of the rest of the pillars was revealed. 

Now it is asserted by Robert Taylor that from the man- 
uscript discovered and published in 1468, containing the 
last six books of the "Annals " of Tacitus, in the last but 
one of which the celebrated passage is found, " all other 
manuscripts and printed copies of [that part of] the 'An- 



NO CONTEMPORARY RECORD OF CHRIST. 29 

nals ' are derived." If any one can deny the statement 
let him speak. The manuscript, he says, purports to be 
of the eighth century, and it is not claimed that there are 
any of an earHer date. The gist of the passage is, that 
Nero, to suppress the rumor that he had set fire to Rome, 
" inflicted the most exquisite tortures on those men, who, 
under the vulgar appellation of Christians, were already 
branded with deserved infamy. They derived their name 
and origin from Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius had 
suffered death by the sentence of the procurator Pontius 
Pilate." 

In Taylor's " Diegesis " numerous reasons are given 
for rejecting the passage as a forgery, the principal of 
which are as follows : 

It is not quoted by any of the Christian Fathers, whose 
purpose it would have served better than any quotation 
from any Pagan writer. 

TertuUian refers to Tacitus twice, (to the History, not 
the Annals,) and appeals to Roman history, without spe- 
cifying any author, to show that Nero was the first per- 
secutor of Christians, but does not stumble on this pas- 
sage.* 

The all-searching Eusebius would have saved himself 
the labor of forging evidence if this were to be found. 

It rests upon the fidelity of a single individual who had 
the ability, the opportunity, and the strongest possible 
inducement to make the interpolation. 

It is exaggerated, improbable, and incompatible with 
the gentle and cultured Tacitus ; nor could he, if Chris- 
tianity was what it claimed to be, have characterized its 
professors thus. 

How could innocent Christians have provoked such 

* See chai)tor xxxvi for further evidence that the ' 'Annals " entire 
were forged iu the 15th century. 



30 NO CONTEMPORARY RECORD OF CHRIST. 

hostility? and how could even so bad a man as Nero 
have been so sportive in cruelty ? 

It is falsified by the text of the New Testament, in 
which rulers are called God's ministers, and not a terror 
to good works. (Rom. xiii, and 1 Pet., iii.) Nero was 
Emperor when the Epistles of Paul and Peter are sup- 
posed to have been written. 

It is falsified by the apology of TertuUian, and the far 
more respectable testimony of Melito, Bishop of Sardis, 
who explicitly states that Christians up to his time, the 
close of the second century, had never been victims of 
persecution. 

Tacitus has in no other part of his writings made the 
least allusion to Christ or Christians. 

To these reasons others may be added, to wit : 

Gibbon doubts whether Nero persecuted Christians at 
all ; and conjectures that Tacitus may have confounded 
them with a pernicious sect of Jews called Galileans, who 
were determined rebels, and were punished by Nero. 

The only authority cited by Gibbon, besides Tacitus, 
for this act of fiendish torture, is Suetonius, a contempo- 
rary writer, who says in his life of Nero that " Christians, 
a race of men of a'new and villanous, wicked or magical 
superstition, were visited with punishment." But he does 
not say when or where, nor does he connect the punish- 
ment with the burning of the city. Substitute " Gali- 
leans" for "Christians," and the statement may be true 
enough. 

Take away from the passage in Tacitus the few words 
relating to Christians, and the sense would be just as 
complete, applying only to certain criminals who were 
"enemies of mankind." The clever interpolation of less 
than fifty words is all that is necessary to identify them 
with Christians. 



NO CONTEMPORARY RECORD OF CHRIST. 31 

But the whole passage lacks confirmation, even more 
than the apocryphal story of Nero's fiddling while Eome 
was burning. 

And yet, after all, what does it prove if genuine ? Only 
that Tacitus, eighty years or more after the alleged death 
of Christ, heard that his followers, "branded with de- 
served infamy," had been cruelly tortured by Nero. Even 
if true, it does not deserve the name of historical proof, 
and Christianity has nothing better to offer. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 

The celebrated passage in Josephus concerning Christ 
being set aside as an acknowledged forgery, what remains 
of external evidence as to his existence? Absolutely 
nothing. All the rest of the Christian forgeries have been 
exposed and swept away, leaving the Gospel fabric with- 
out a single historic support. The Epistle of Jesus Christ 
to Abgarus, King of Edessa, and his answer thereto ; the 
wonderful portrait of Jesus which he miraculously photo- 
graphed on the Veronica handkerchief by wiping his face 
therewith ; the letter of Pontius Pilate to the Emperor 
Tiberius, describing the miraculous events attending the 
crucifixion, more marvellous than even the Gospel story- 
tellers could invent — all these and like forgeries of the 
Christian Fathers having served the purpose of the Church 
in darkening the minds of the people for fifteen hundred 
years, are no longer able to endure the light of the nine- 
teenth century. So, too, in regard to later forgeries, such 
as the pretended letter of Publius Lentulus, the supposed 
predecessor of Pontius Pilate, describing the personal 
appearance and character of Jesus Christ. This clumsy 



32 CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 

forgery is fathered upon Jerome Xavier, about a. d. 1600. 
Even now, these and other obsolete evidences appear from 
time to time in the newspapers, exciting the wonder of 
the ignorant and the contempt of the learned. 

All, then, that is left of genuine historical Christian 
evidence relates to Christianity and not to Christ, except 
by implication. The celebrated passage in Tacitus, even 
if genuine — which it is not, at least in essential part — is 
onl}'' hearsay evidence at best, written more than eighty 
years after the alleged death of Christ. The earliest 
trace of any of our four Gospels is sixty or seventy years 
this' side of Tacitus ; and there is no proof that the story 
of the crucifixion under the procurator Pontius Pilate 
existed when Tacitus wrote. 

The next best piece of external evidence, not as to the 
existence of Christ, but of early Christianity, is a letter of 
Pliny, pro-consul of Bithynia, which, if genuine, was 
written about a. d. 106. In it is described the practice of 
Christians of meeting " before daylight to sing hymns 
with responses to Christ as a god," of binding themselves 
"not to do any wrong act," never to " break their word " 
or " violate a trust." How different these from the Chris- 
tians (?) described by Tacitus, " who were held in abhor- 
rence for their crimes," and were punished by Nero " not 
so much for the crime of burning the city as for their 
enmity to mankind ! " Pliny begins his letter to the 
Emperor Trajan by saying, "I have 7iever been present at 
any trials of Christians ;" but presently speaks of theit 
being brought before him and accused, and, upon confes- 
sion of being Christians, of his ordering them away " to 
be punished." What was that but a trial by the highest 
court of the province? But further on he says, **I 
thought it requisite to get at the entire truth by putting 
to the torture two women who were called deaconesses; 



CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES. 33 

but I discovered nothing beyond an austere and excessive 
superstition. Upon the whole, therefore, I determined 
to adjourn the trials in order to consult you ! " Aha ! 
pseudo Pliny ! You have flatly contradicted yourself, and 
may stand aside. 

It is needless to review any further external evidences 
of the early existence of Christianity. That it reaches as 
far back as the middle of the first century is not denied ; 
but what if it originated before Christ ? Many maintain 
that it did,, and adduce in support of the opinion not only 
the positive assertions of several of the earliest Fathers, 
but the fact of the frequent use of the names Jesus and 
Christ, as synonymous with Savior and Messiah, for 
more than two hundred years before the Christian era. 
The suggestion of the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left 
out has caused many a smile ; but how about the drama 
of Christianity with Christ left out? For nearly two 
thousand years the dismal tragedy has been enacted, un- 
relieved by a bit of comedy. It has not been a play, 
but a fearful reality a thousand times more tragic than 
any stage performance has ever attempted to represent. 
Myriads of trembling spectators have been the unwilling 
witnesses of the hideous spectacle, and multitudes of vic- 
tims have been compelled to bear a terrible part in the 
ghastly drama; but by and-by, when it shall have become 
known as an incontrovertible fact that there never was 
any real Christ, and that Christianity existed long before 
the alleged birth of Jesus, then will come the time to 
laugh ; then the tragedy will be changed to comedy, and 
the Christian will join the anti-Christian and the Infidel 
in hearty merriment. 

Fly swiftly on, ye wheels of time, 
And bring the glorious day. 



CHAPTER X. 
WHAT MR. PEEBLES KNOWS ABOUT JESUS. 

Mr. J. M. Peebles, formerly a Universalist preacher, 
and now a Spiritualist lecturer, author, and traveller, pub- 
lished a pamphlet in 1871, entitled " Jesus, Myth, Man, or 
God." In the first chapter he undertakes to prove that 
Jesus was not a Myth, and in doing so assails and as- 
perses the character of Robert Taylor, author of the 
" Diegesis." Conceding Taylor's excellent scholarship, he 
accuses him of mingling " facts and fancies," of " exagger- 
ations " that " admit of no apology," and imputes to him 
a want of truthfulness. But instead of sustaining these 
grave charges, Mr. Peebles lays himself open to like ac- 
cusations ; for so exaggerated and untrue are his state- 
ments and quotations from Taylor, that the charge of 
falsification can be defended only by the plea of profound 
ignorance of Taylor's writings. And this plea, forsooth, 
will account for his own omission to answer a single one 
of Taylor's arguments, especially that in regard to the 
integrity of the passage from Tacitus, which Mi'. Peebles 
trustfully assumes. The only point in the " Diegesis " 
that Mr. Peebles even adverts to, is concerning Prome- 
theus. He denies that Prometheus "to rescue men from 
eternal death, ventured to expose himself to the wrath of 
the Almighty Father," and says that the words thus quoted 
are a false translation by Taylor ; whereas the fact is, Tay- 
lor not only makes no such statement, but quotes at length 
from Potter's translation, three lines of which Mr. Peebles 
himself cites to prove that Prometheus suffered to save the 
race froin extirpation only. Had he taken the trouble 
to look, he would have seen those very lines quoted by 
Taylor, and three lines further on he would have found 

34 



WHAT MR. PEEBLES KNOWS ABOUT JESUS. 35 

these words : " Saved them from sinkiog to the realms of 
night." 

How much does that differ from the expression falsely- 
attributed to Taylor — "to rescue men from eternal death?" 
It would have been correct enough had Taylor said it, but 
Mr. Peebles having been once inoculated with Universal- 
ism, wants to get rid of the Hell of antiquity even at the 
expense of an influx of the spirit of the Devil in Robert 
Taylor. It is not the author of the " Devil's Pulpit," but 
Potter or ^schylus who is responsible for the hell or 
"realms of night "from which Prometheus saved man- 
kind by suffering the wrath of Jove. 

But in his eagerness to overthrow the parallel which 
Taylor draws between Prometheus and Jesus Christ, Mi\ 
Peebles asserts that "Prometheus was not crucified at 
all," being only riveted with chains to a rock. Now Tay- 
lor speaks of his being nailed by the hands and feet to 
Mount Caucasus, and in using the expression " hanging 
on the cross, " he adds in a foot note, "The cross, refer- 
ring to the attitude of the sufferer." The punishment of 
the god Prometheus, in Taylor's estimation, was essen- 
tially the same as crucifixion, the only difference being in 
the substitution of a rock for a stake. 

Most people think that a cross, as an instrument of 
punishment, always implies a beam with a cross-har. Not 
so. The Greek word is stau7'os, and is rendered in Latin, 
1st, vallus, (a long spar of timber, a stake or post ;) 2d, 
palus Ugneus, (a post of wood to which the condemned 
were tied to be scourged and executed ;) 3d, crux, (a cross, 
gibbet, or gallows.) Its simplest form was "an upright 
stake on which a malefactor was sometimes impaled and 
sometimes fastened with cords or nails." (Am. Cyc.) This 
was the Eoman form to which " the Latin name crux was 
originally and more strictly applicable." (Chamb. Enc.) 
Afterwards a cross-piece was added, to which the arms of 



36 WHAT MR. PEEBLES KNOWS ABOUT JESUS. 

the criminal were tied or his hands nailed ; but " the shape 
of the cross on which our Savior suffered is not known, 
for the historians who record its discovery (!) give no de- 
scription of it." (Am. Cyc.) 

The popular form of the cross differs in one important 
feature from that described by the early Fathers. Justin, 
(Dial. Try., xci,) Ireneus, (Agt. Her., ii, 24,) and Tertul- 
lian, (Ad. Nat., xii,) all concur in affixing midway on the 
upright stake a " horn " or saddle, on which the culprit 
sits astride with his legs bound below. 

The whipping-post is a dwarfed descendant of the 
primitive cross, and the pillory a differentiated species. 
Had Paganism continued as the religion of Europe, its 
temples to-day might have contained as holy relics pieces 
of the rock to which Prometheus was riveted. 

Mr. Peebles adduces in support of a historical Jesus 
what he calls " that learned work by contemporary Jews, 
the Toldoth Jesu." If there be any such book in this 
country we would like to know it. In " Voltaire's Philo- 
sophical Dictionary," article " Messiah," an ancient book 
is spoken of entitled " Sepher Toldos Jeschu," brought 
to light by Wagenseil. The writer of the article charac- 
terizes it as a "detestable book," forged by the Jews for 
the purpose of casting ridicule and contempt on the birth, 
life, and death of Jesus, who is described as the son of 
an adulteress. This book, the writer adds, was cited by 
Celsus in the 2d century and refuted by Origen. 

Now Celsus, as quoted by Origen, does not name any 
book at all ; and though he does say that Jesus was a 
vagabond son of an adulteress, yet in other particulars 
his account differs materially from that contained in Vol- 
taire's Philosophical Dictionary. 

Moreover, Celsus comes too late to prove a historical 
Jesus ; for it is not claimed that he flourished before the 



WHAT MR. PEEBLES KNOWS ABOUT JESUS. 37 

middle of the second century, and it seems more prob- 
able that he wrote in the early part of the third. (Sup. 
Rel., vol. ii, p. 236.) 

Again, this " Sepher Toldoth Jesu " was adduced by 
the Rev. John Pye Smith, in a controversy with Robert 
Taylor, as a crowning proof of the existence of Jesus ; 
but Taylor, in replj?^, quoted Dr. Lardner's admission 
that it was a work of the 14th or 15th centurj^, and was 
" from the beginning to the end a burlesque and a false- 
hood." (Syntagma, p. 136.) 

Brother Peebles has found a new^ piece of evidence in 
a recent excavation of the Palace of the Csesars in Pom- 
peii. It is a " caricature of Christ crucified," which he 
himself saw in an Italian museum, and he describes it as 
follows : 

' ' In tMs figure we have first tlie cross, and then Jesus repre- 
sented in the form of a man, the arms outstretched, the head shaped 
like that of the ass, and all extended upon this cross. The Chris- 
tian Alexamenos is sketched standing on one side, hands upraised 
in the attitude of the worship of that period. Under the mock fig- 
ure is an inscription exhibiting little knowledge of the classics. — 
Translated, a portion reads thus : ' Alexamenos worships God.^" 

In order to identify this picture as a caricature of the 
*' new god " Jesus, a passage from Tertullian, a. d. 200, is 
cited, in which he speaks of the Christians being accused 
of worshipping an ass, and of an infamous fellow exhibit- 
ing such a picture with the inscription, " This is the God 
of the Christians." And for further identification, the 
story of Jesus riding to Jerusalem on an ass (or two 
asses) is referred to by Mr. Peebles. Such kind of evi- 
dence is weak enough, but like the other vaunted proofs 
of the existence of Jesus, it has already been exploded. 
In a learned work entitled " The Gnostics and their Re- 
mains," (London, 1865,) sl facsimile is given of this and 
a great many other religious drawings and carvings, with 
the following explanation : 



38 WHAT MR. PEEBLES KNOWS ABOUT JESUS. 

" By this, too, we are enabled rightly to understand a rude draw- 
ing lately discovered on the wall of a vault of the Palatine, (the cell of 
a slave, one of Caesar's household,) which represents this jackal- 
figure nailed to the cross, with the inscription Alexamenos cebete 
theon, in reality the work of some pious Gnostic, but which is 
usually looked upon as a heathen blasphemy, because the jackal's 
head is taken for that of an ass. Here, too, we find an illustration 
of Tertullian's meaning when he says to his opponents, ' Like many- 
others you have dreamed that an ass's head is our God. But a new 
version of our Lord has lately been made public in Eome, ever since 
the time that a certain hireling convict of a bull-fighter put forth a 
picture with some such inscription as this : The God of the Chris- 
tians, Onokoietes.^ He was there depicted with the ears of an ass, 
with one of his feet hoofed, holding in his hands a book, and clad 

in a toga The same calumny was transferred somewhat later 

by the Christians themselves to the account of the Gnostics. Not 
being acquainted with the Egyptian animal, they mistook (perhaps 
intentionally) the jackal's head for that of an ass, which, to say the 
truth, it greatly resembles in the rude drawings of our gems." 

But still another discovery has been made by Mr. Pee- 
bles. While at Jerusalem about a year ago, a Rabbi read 
to him from the Mishna, which '• makes special mention 
of Jesus of Nazareth, his ' indifference to the laws of 
Moses,' his ' pretended miracles,' his ' stubborn wayward- 
ness,' his ' kingly ambition,' and 'repeated blasphemies.'" 
Pshaw ! brother Peebles. Jesus was as common a name 
among the Jews as James and John, and the traits of char- 
acter above enumerated would apply to many a hetero- 
dox Jesus. But those ancient literary conglomerates,, 
the Jewish Talmuds, aside from their want of authenti- 
city and integrity, are all too late by centuries as histor- 
ical evidence. The Mishna to which you refer was prob- 
ably one of the earliest, being redacted about a. d. 220,* 

* Prideaux thinks the Mishna was composed about the year 150 ; 
Lardner says 180 is early enough ; and Lightfoot thinks it was com- 
piled about 190. We take the year 220, on the authority of Oham^ 
bers's Encyclopedia. 



WHAT MR. PEEBLES KNOWS ABOUT JESUS. 39 

at a time when the current Gospel fictions colored all 
Christian literature, and judging- by the Jewish burlesque 
which appeared about a. d. 200, supposed to be the same 
as Wagenseil's " Sepher Toldos Jeschu," it is not unlikely 
that the editors of the Talmuds interpolated a Jesus to 
suit themselves. At all events they have a number of 
them, and all quite orthodox compared with the Chris- 
tians' Jesus. 

Pray don't undertake anything more in this line, 
brother Peebles, for you have made a precious muddle. 
In one chapter of 18 pages, about Jesus, you have made 
more unpardonable errors than can be found in the 450 
pages of Taylor's " Diegesis." 



CHAPTER XI. 

WHAT THE JEWS KNOW ABOUT JESUS. 

What the Rabbi read to Mr. Peebles at Jerusalem out 
of the Mishna falls far short of identifying the Christian 
Jesus, besides being too late to be of any value. But it 
is said that there are other fragments in the Jewish books 
that point to Jesus, and Rabbi Wise, in his " Origin of 
Christianity," has extracted a few. For what they are 
worth we will give them a passing notice. On page 228 
he says : 

'* The rabbis of the apostolic age stood in close connection with 
the Apostle James. They call him in the Talmud ' Jacob, the man 
from Kephar-Sekania,' 'one of the pupils of Jesus of Nazareth." 
His home, Kephar-Sekania, is identical with Kephar-Samiah, a town 
in the vicinity of Nazareth." 

Mr. Wise here assumes the existence of an Apostle 
James and of a place called Nazareth. That there may 
have been a so-called Apostle James in the early Chris- 



40 WHAT THE JEWS KNOW ABOUT • JESUS. 

tian Church is quite possible, but that any such person can 
be identified with either of the two Jameses mentioned 
in the Gospels and Acts as Apostles of Jesus, is impossi- 
ble. A third Apostle James is mentioned in Gal. i, 19, 
and called " the Lord's brother;" but the Lord's brother 
James (Matt, xiii, 55) was never chosen as a third Apostle 
of Jesus ; and if we are to believe John vii, 5, the broth- 
ers of Jesus were unbelievers. As to the place called Naz- 
areth, it was located and named by the mother of Con- 
stantine in the 4th century. It had then been known only 
in Gospel fiction nearly 150 years, and it was important 
to find it somewhere. So when Constantine's aged and 
pious mother went in search of the holy places in Pales- 
tine, the city of Nazareth was found to order, like the 
Savior's tomb and cross. Whether in the right or wrong 
locality they all had to be fixed. There was probably no 
city of Nazareth before Constantine any more than there 
was a Constantinople. 

But what kind of an Apostle was James, according to 
Mr. Wise '? Not much of a Christian, as we shall see. 
One Rabbi Eliezer, he says, a strict Pharisee, "was so far 
misled -by James into the tenets of Christianity that the 
Rabbi was arrested and accused of siding with the Chris- 
tians." The matter which brought this Rabbi in trouble, 
literally translated from the Talmud by Mr. Wise, reads 
thus : 

' ' I remember that once when I [Eliezer] walked over the mart 
of Sepporis I met one of the pupils of Jesus of Nazareth, Jacob — 
a man of Kephar-Sekania — is his name ; and he said to me : It is 
written in your law, ' Thou shalt not bring the hire of a harlot, &c., 
into the house of the Lord thy God — how about making for such 
money a privy chamber for the high priest ? ' I made no reply ; 
but then he continued, ' Thus Jesus, the Nazarene, taught me : It 
came from an unclean place, and goes to an unclean place. ' " 

Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus the Nazarene are here 



WHAT THE JEWS KNOW ABOUT JESUS. 41 

used indiscriminately, just as they are confounded in 
the Gospels. " Nazarene " means a member of the fam- 
ily of David. There was a sect of the Essenes called 
Nazarenes, and in most instances where we read in the 
Gospels and Acts "Jesus of Nazareth," it should have 
been translated " Jesus the Nazarene." In Matt, ii, 23, 
the infant Jesus is brought to Nazareth in order to fulfil 
a prophecy that he should " be called a Nazarene." The 
phophecy referred to (Judges xiii, 5) is about Samson the 
J^azarite, not Nazarene. The Nazarites were an ancient 
order of long-haired devotees. The Nazarenes were a 
modern sect, of whom Paul was said to be a ringleader, 
(Acts xxiv, 5.) The Gospel writers or interpolaters, not 
being Jews, may not have known the difference between 
a Nazarite, a Nazarene, and a citizen of Nazareth ; or if 
they did, they did not care to make the distinction. 

Sepporis, the city where Eliezer met James, the pupil 
of Jesus of Nazareth, was the capital of Galilee. It was 
an important town, being twice captured by the Romans 
in the first century. (See Josephus.) And yet there is 
no mention of it in the New Testament. Not more than 
ten cities of Palestine are named in the Gospels as the 
theatre of Christ's ministry, out of at least eight hundred 
which must have existed according to Josephus, who 
makes out two hundred in the province of Galilee, the 
smallest of the four. But allowing even a large reduction 
of Josephus's numbers, is it not remarkable that the bi- 
ographers of Jesus should name only ten cities, two of 
which, if not more — Nazareth and Capernaum — are un- 
known in history ? 

But how about the Christianity of this James, the pu- 
pil of Jesus ? Speaking of the Rabbi Eliezer, Mr. Wise 
says: 

"His close connection with the Apostle James is of itself evi- 



42 WHAT THE JEWS KNOW ABOUT JESUS. 

dence that the latter was a law-abiding Pharisee, who believed in 
Jesus of Nazareth as the pupil does in his master." 

There you have it — Rabbi Eliezer, a strict, law-abiding, 
traditional Pharisee, and the Apostle James, his intimate 
friend, ditto ! Now how about Jesus ? Says Mr. Wise : 

" The Rabbis of the Talmud never say of Jesus and his Apostles 

that they rejected the law They accused him (the above-named 

Rabbi Eliezer did) of having brought necromancy from Egypt, and 
because he believed in it they called him a fool. They maintained 
that he rejected the laws of the Rabbis, and characterized his dis- 
ciples in these words : ' Who are the disciples of Jesus ? Those 
who refuse the authority of the Rabbis.' But they never say that 
he or his pupils rejected the Law of Moses. This is undeniable 
evidence that the primitive Christians, the Apostles and the first 
congregation, the Ebionites and the Nazarenes, adhered to the Law 
of Moses." 

Enough said ; Jesus Christ was an Orthodox Jew. He 
never rejected the law of Moses, says Mr. Wise, for if he 
or his disciples had done so, " the Rabbis would certainly 
have preferred this grave charge against them." The only 
charge against Jesus or his Apostles was rejecting the 
laws or traditions of the Rabbis — a mild heresy at most. 
He was a radical, and the Rabbis were conservatives. He 
was, withal, a respectable gentleman, and though he did 
bring necromancy from Egypt, and believed in it too, (as 
did most of the people of those days,) yet he was a dis- 
tinguished teacher and writer, and one of his manuscripts, 
says Mr. Wise, was " then well known among the Rabbis.'' 
(p. 291.) . 

That will do. We may perhaps accept the Talmud as 
authority for the existence of a distinguished Professor 
Jesus and his pupil James ; but what feature has either 
of them in common with the Jesus or the Jameses of the 
Gospels, that would not apply as well to almost any other 
of the numerous Jesuses or Jameses of the first century ? 



WHAT THE JEWS KNOW ABOUT JESUS. 4^ 

Header, you have now had presented to you in brief sub- 
stance what the Jews know about Jesus. Rabbi Wise 
has been promising something more from the Talmud. 
For Christ's sake let him give it to us, is the prayer of 
Antichrist. 



CHAPTER XII. 

ALL ABOUT PAUL AND PETEE. 

That Paul was a historical character has never yet been 
questioned by any competent critic. Not so, however, in 
regard to Peter and the rest of the twelve Apostles^ 
There are historical traces of Paul, but none of Peter. 
Of the thirteen Epistles purporting to be written by Paul,, 
the first four, to wit, Romans, 1st and 2d Corinthians,, 
and Galatians, are conceded by most critics to be sub- 
stantially genuine. The authenticity of Romans is ques- 
tioned by Evanson and Bruno Bauer ; that of the other 
three by Bauer alone. Some of the remaining nine may 
be partly genuine, though discredited by numerous crit- 
ics ; but others, especially the Epistles to Timothy and 
Titus, are certainly spurious. 

But both Epistles of Peter are manifest forgeries. " It 
is not likely," says Dr. Samuel Davidson, " that Peter 
knew Greek so well as to be able to write the [first] 
Epistle. His native dialect was Aramaean, which he could 
not lay aside as long as he addressed Jewish Christians 
of Palestine." (Int. to N. T., i, 426.) In regard to the 
2d Epistle, the same author says, " Internal considerations 
go far to disprove its authenticity, and with the external 
evidence, are very strong." (ii, 496.) The 1st Epistle^ 
he thinks, may have been written between a. d. 75 and 80,, 
(when, if Peter was living, he must have been in his: 



44 ALL ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 

second childhood ;) while some other critics assign it to 
the beginning of the second century. The 2d Epistle he 
dates as late as a. d. 170. 

Upon the tradition that Peter was Bishop at Kome, and 
suffered martyrdom about the year 66, the Romish Church 
asserts its supremacy. His martyrdom under Nero of 
course precludes his authorship of even the first Epistle, 
unless Dr. Davidson and other equally competent Chris- 
tian critics are mistaken as to its earliest assignable date. 
This Eomish tradition, though accepted by many Protes- 
tants, has been resolutely rejected by others, from the 
reformer Valerius, in 1520, down to the Rev. Dr. Sunder- 
land, present Chaplain of the United States Senate, who, 
in a late prayer at a public meeting, thanked the Lord 
that Paul had visited Rome, though Peter had not. 

Peter and Paul, according to the tradition, suffered 
martyrdom at the same time and place, Peter being cruci- 
fied with his head downward, and Paul being beheaded. 
The martyrdom of Paul is thus recorded by Dorotheus, 
a Tyrian monk, about a. d. 560 : 

' ' He was beheaded at Eome under Nero, the third kalends of 
July, so died a martyr, and lieth there, buried with Peter the Apos- 
tle." 

This tradition is opposed to another, which is far more 
credible, to wit, that Paul and Peter were irreconcilable 
antagonists. The uncompromising attitude of Paul in 
opjiosition to his Judaising colleagues gives a seeming 
support to the latter tradition ; and the cunning forgery 
of the name of Peter several times in the Epistle to the 
Galatians, has rendered the underpinning well nigh im- 
movable until now, when the priestly fraud is made mani- 
fest. If, as the Romish Church asserts, the pretended 
chief Apostle Peter was Bishop at Rome from a. d. 42 to 
66, how improbable that Paul, the pompous, self-ordained 



ALL ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 



45 



Apostle of the same Jesus, would remain there, in sub- 
ordination to Pope Peter the First ! The book of Acts 
brings Paul to that city after a final voyage, (a. d. 63 ac- 
cording to the Bible chronology,) where he finds no Chris- 
tians until he converts a few Jews. If the story is true, 
the Apostolic See of Rome must have been entirely va- 
cant, without shepherd or sheep, during the period as- 
signed to the bishopric of Peter, except for the two years 
when Paul dwelt there and gave receptions in his own 
hired house, (Acts xxviii, 30.) 

And yet the Papacy audaciously maintains a succession 
of Popes as follows : 



Peter 

Linus 

Cletus or Anacletus ... 

Clement , 

Evaristus 


....A.D. 42 

.... " 66 
.... " 78 
.... " 91 
.... " 100 


Hyginus a. 

Pius ' 

Anicetus ' 

Soterus.. ' 

Eleutherus ' 

Victor ' 

Zephyrinus ' 


D. 139 
142 
157 
168 

177 


Alexander 

Sixtus 


.... " 109 
.... " 119 


193 
202 


Telesphorus . . 


.... " 127 


Calixtus ' 


219 



Of the above-named first sixteen Popes all but six are 
said to have suffered martyrdom ; and yet their average 
term of service was three months longer than that of the 
last sixteen preceding Pius IX. So Christian martyrdom 
appears to promote longevity in St. Peter's chair. But 
what do we know of any of the first sixteen ? Only two 
of the names, Peter and Clement, are thought worthy of 
notice in Chambers's Encyclopedia. How could either 
names or dates be anything but guesses, when there is 
not a scrap of record of any sort within the first century, 
and little or nothing in the second, to establish an apos- 
tolic succession ? The only Christian writings that can 
certainly be assigned to the 1st century are some of the 
New Testament Epistles and the Apocalypse ; and no 
heathen record of the 1st century refers to Christ or 
Christianity. 



46 ALL ABOUT PAUL AND FETER. 

The geological strata of the earth have been compared 
to a mutilated book with only one leaf left in a hundred. 
So it is with the record of the first one hundred years of 
the Christian Church. There are 99 leaves missing, and 
we are by no means certain of the preservation of either 
the 1st or the 101st. Then follow a few scattered pages of 
the last half of the 2d century, but so defaced that they 
throw little or no light on the Apostolic age. The Chris- 
tian cherishes a faith founded on a fancied Eock, Christ 
Jesus. The Eoman Catholic boasts of a Church built not 
only on the primitive, but on the secondary Eock, St. Pe- 
ter. It was a pretty pun to call petros a rock, but a little 
too far-fetched. Petros signifies only a piece of a rock. 
To the Catholic it seems a tall cliff; to the Protestant a 
pretty big boulder ; to the Freethinker only a pebble ; but 
to Anticheist it is not so big as a grain of sand. 

But to return to the martyrdom of Paul and Peter. St. 
Linus, the imaginary successor of the imaginary Peter, 
is said to have said that — 

"After Paul's head was struck off by the sword of the execu- 
tioner, it did with a loud and distinct voice utter forth, in Hebrew, 
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, while, instead of blood, it was 
nought but a stream of 'pure white milk that flowed from his veins. " 

Another supposititious Bishop, Abdias of Babylon, in 
a book first published in 1551, repeats the story, and 
affirms that when Paul's head was cut off " a milky wave 
flowed all over the sword and arm of the executioner." 
This book purports to have been written by one who as- 
serted that he had seen Christ ; that he was one of the 
disciples ; that he had witnessed the death of several of 
the Apostles, and that he accompanied St. Simon and St. 
Jude into Persia, by whom he was made first Bishop of 
Babylon. (Am. Cyc.) But on examination, both by Papist 
and Protestant writers, the book was soon discovered to 



ALL ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 47 

be a gross imposture from the many anachronisms it 
contained ; and Fabricius has proved from internal evi- 
dence that it was first w^ritten in Latin, not in Hebrew, 
as it claimed to have been, and the age of the writer is 
placed in the 5th or 6th century, or later. (Chamb. Biog. 
Die.) 

Thus vanish the absurd and incredible traditions con- 
cerning the martyrdom of Paul and Peter. But there 
are other traditions about Paul that deserve notice. The 
Pagan satirist Lucian, in his dialogue entitled " Philo- 
patris," describes a certain Galilean whom he met, as 
" that bald-headed, hook-nosed fellow who went up into 
Heaven and was there taught the* best things " — an ap- 
parent reference to Paul, (2 Cor., xii, 2.) Lucian wrote 
about A. D. 176, more than a century after Paul, whose 
Epistles were brought to Rome, by Marcion, about a. d. 
138 or 140, and were perhaps familiar to the Pagan satir- 
ist. His testimony, therefore, is of little weight, but yet 
it is quite possible, nay, even probable, that his personal 
description of Paul from tradition was correct, as it is 
not out of accord with Paul's own hints of his bodily ap- 
pearance. 

Conceding, therefore, the existence of Paul, we are by 
no means bound to admit that of Peter ; for though the 
writer of Acts has brought the two together in his fabri- 
cated history of the nascent Church, written a hundred 
years after the events are said to have transpired ; and 
though the spurious 2d Epistle of Peter, written as late 
as 170, speaks of the Epistles of " our beloved brother 
Paul," ranking them among the " other Scriptures " at 
a period when there were no canonical New Testament 
writings — we expect to sever the forged chain that has 
hitherto bound the two characters together, and hope to 
demonstrate that Paul never knew such a person as the 
Apostle Peter. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
MORE ABOUT PAUL AND PETEE. 

The writer of Acts brings Paul and Peter together but 
once or twice. He says that shortly after Paul's conver- 
sion he went to Jerusalem, and there Barnabas brought 
him to the Apostles, (ix, 26, 27.) If so, and if -Peter was 
there, this was Paul's first introduction to Peter. But the 
record is silent as to the presence of Peter, of whom the 
next thing we read is that he is passing " throughout all 
quarters." (Ver. 32.) 

But on a subsequent visit to Jerusalem Paul and Peter 
are brought together in a council of the Apostles and 
Elders, (xv, 4-29.) This is the only certain occasion 
where the story in Acts makes the two men meet, and it 
is in a public council. Paul and Barnabas came as dele- 
gates to submit to the Apostles and Elders the question 
of Gentile circumcision. A council was called to consider 
it. After some disputing, Peter made a speech in favor 
of relieving the Gentiles from the yoke. Paul and Bar- 
nabas then addressed the multitude, "declaring what 
miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gen- 
tiles by them." Then James closed the discussion with 
a speech seconding the views of Peter. The result of 
the deliberations of the council was a brotherly letter 
to the Gentile Christians, releasing them from the ob- 
servance of the Mosaic law, except in two or three par- 
ticulars. Whatever division of sentiment there was at 
the beginning of the council, there was none at its close, 
and it is remarkable that Peter was in perfect accord 
with Paul all the time. The traditional antagonism 
of these two Apostles nowhere appears in the book of 
Acts. Indeed, Peter already had a revelation to preach 



MORE ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 49 

the Gospel to the Gentiles, had baptized Cornelias, and 
had overcome the opposition of the Apostles and brethren 
at Jerusalem who were of the circumcision, (xi, 1-18.) 
Where, then, shall we look for evidence of antagonism 
between Paul and Peter ? If it existed at all, the story 
in Acts is not true. 

In Paul's Epistles we have the earliest Church records. 
Such as are genuine were written, as all critics agree, be- 
tween the years 52 and 63. In Gal. i and ii he tells about 
his visits to Jerusalem. The first one, he says, was three 
years after his conversion. In Acts it was immediately 
after, (ix, 27 ; xxii, 17.) Paul says he went there to see 
Cephas, (not Peter, as our translation has it,) with whom 
he abode fifteen days, and that he saw no other Apostle 
but James. The story in Acts says that the disciples were 
afraid of him until Barnabas introduced him to the Apos- 
tles, and after that " he was with them coming in and 
going out at Jerusalem." (ix, 28.) Can any one suppose 
that by the "Apostles" was meant only two of them? 
Peter and John had just returned to Jerusalem from a 
missionary tour, (viii, 14, 25,) on which they had been 
sent by the rest of the Apostles Is it possible to har- 
monize this story of Acts with the statement of Paul ? 

The second visit of Paul to Jerusalem he says was four- 
teen years later. (Gal. ii, 1.) Let us see how it harmon- 
izes with the account in Acts. 

Paul says he " went up by revelation." The story in 
Acts is that he went as one of several deputies from the 
Church at Antioch. (xv, 2.) 

Paul speaks of having only a private conference with 
James, Cephas, and John. In Acts there was a formal 
public council held by the Apostles and Elders, and at- 
tended by a "multitude." (xv, 6, 12.) 

Paul says he obtained simply the sanction of James, 



50 MOEE ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 

Cephas, and John that he should continue to preach the 
Gospel of uncircumcision. In Acts there was a formal 
decree of the council embodied in letters addressed to 
the Gentile Christians at Antioch and elsewhere. 

Paul was so strongly an ti- Judaic that he affirmed, "If ye 
be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing." (Gal. v, 2.) 
According to Acts the council recognized the validity of 
the law for Jewish Christians, in direct antagonism to his 
above-expressed sentiment. How could he have assented 
to that Judaic doctrine without opposition ? 

Paul says the only specific recommendation coupled 
with his Gospel of uncircumcision by the three brethren 
whom he consulted, was to remember the poor at Jeru- 
salem. The decree of the Apostolic council in Acts con- 
tains three or four express prohibitions. 

Paul puts himself in no subordinate position, disdains 
the authority of the elder Apostles, and says though they 
seemed to be somewhat, they added nothing to him. (Gal. 
ii, 6.) In Acts the council is represented as one of appeal, 
to whose authority Paul submissively bowed. 

Paul represents himself as yielding nothing. In Acts 
he makes concessions — certainly in regard to abstinence 
from meat offered to idols, which in 1 Cor., viii, he views 
with indifference, and releases Christians from the obHga- 
tion to abstain. 

Paul, after having returned with the sanction of James, 
Cephas, and John to preach the Gospel of uncircumcision, 
is annoyed by the duplicity of Cephas, and meeting him 
at Antioch (not Peter, as our translation has it agaiuj) he 
publicly upbraids him for hypocrisy in compelling the 
Gentiles to live as Jews do. But in Acts he leaves the 
Apostolic council with no apparent difference of opinion 
from the rest on any question. 

Paul says he brought Titus, a Greek, with him to Jeru- 



MORE ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 51 

salem, and nobody compelled his disciple to be circum- 
cised, implying that if they had sought to do it he would 
have resisted it ; for he says he " gave place by subjection, 
no, not for an hour." (Gal. ii, 5.) But in Acts he so far 
yields to the Judaizers as to circumcise his disciple Tim- 
othy, in spite of the decree of the council releasing the 
Gentiles from that yoke. Timothy's father was a Greek, 
(xvi, 1, 3.) How could Paul rebuke Cephas, or the zealots 
that came from James, charging them with Judaizing 
hypocrisy, if he himself was justly chargeable with a far 
worse thing than they ? 

Christian apologists may strive to reconcile these con- 
tradictions, as they do multitudes of others in their holy 
book of contradictions, but it will be impossible to save a 
single historical fragment of the story of Acts above re- 
ferred to about the connection of Paul with the primitive 
Apostles, beyond what is found in Paul's own writings. 
Everything which the writer of Acts has added is at vari- 
ance with Paul's own statement, and is, therefore, pure 
fiction. But not content with a fabricated amplification 
of Paul's two visits to Jerusalem, the writer of Acts has 
inserted between the two another one, sending Paul and 
Barnabas from Antioch with contributions for the starving 
brethren at Jerusalem, (xi, 27-30.) "This," says Dr. 
Davidson, " must be unhistorical, because Paul notices all 
his visits to Jerusalem prior to the writing of the Gala- 
tian Epistle." 

Yes, indeed, and so is almost everything in the book 
of Acts unhistorical — so much so that no one can point 
out what is fact. A few detached fragments of a supposed 
diary of a companion of Paul woven into the narrative, 
bear the appearance of history, but there is nothing to 
support them. The story was written, probably, about a 
hundred years after Paul's death. Rabbi Wise, in his 



52 



MOEE ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 



" Origin of Christianity," has shown that the writer was 
ignorant of the geography of Palestine, and of the lan- 
guage, laws, and customs of the Jews ; and the " unde- 
signed coincidences " between the book of Acts and the 
Pauline Epistles which Paley so clearly discerned, all 
vanish under the scrutiny of more recent Christian criti- 
cism. 

From the first dramatic scene of the ascension of Jesus 
to the last matter-of-fact announcement that Paul dwelt 
two whole years at Rome in his own hired house, the book 
is a tissue of falsehoods. Paul may have visited Rome, 
as in the Epistle to the Romans he expressed a strong de- 
sire and intention to do. (i, 13 ; xv, 23, 32.) But if the 
story in Acts is true the Epistle to the Romans is not 
Paul's, because in it he addresses the " saints " at Rome 
whose "faith is spoken of throughout the whole world;" 
but when he reaches that great metropolis he finds 
scarcely a saint there to welcome him, and the few Jews 
whom he calls together listen with curiosity and incre- 
dulity to what he has to say about the new sect " that 
everywhere is spoken against." (xxviii, 22-28.) We say 
scarcely a saint welcomed Paul at Rome. In Acts xxviii, 
15, we read that the brethren fiom thence came to meet 
him at Appii-forum and the Three Taverns, distant, re- 
spectively, 43 and 33 miles from Rome. How many there 
were of these brethren we are not told, but certainly they 
must have been very few. At all events there were not 
enough in the great city of Rome for Paul to call together 
elsewhere than in his own hired house. 

Our next' essay will be to show how Cephas became 
transmuted into Peter, by a priestly fraud that might 
well nigh have caused the ghost of Paul to rise and 
anathematize the pseudo successors of the mythical first 
Bishop of Rome. For we assert, and shall maintain, that 



MORE ABOUT PAUL AND PETER. 53 

the Apostle Peter, like the man Christ Jesus, was the 
creation of the post- Apostolic Church, and that he stands 
in the same relation to Cephas that Kobinson Crusoe is 
supposed to stand to Alexander Selkirk. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 

Bearing in mind that Paul's Epistles are the oldest 
Christian writings, ante-dating the four Gospels and book 
of Acts by 60 to 120 years, (for such is the verdict of un- 
biassed criticism,) who were the prominent leaders in the 
primitive church as recognized , by Paul ? They were 
Apollos, Cephas, Barnabas, James, Timotheus, Titus, and 
John. Of these, only two or three at most can be identified 
a,s Apostles, viz., Cephas, James, and John. Paul treats 
none of the rest as Apostles, except by loose implication. 

The name Cephas occurs oftener than any of the rest, 
and more is said about him. He is twice mentioned as 
one of three great leaders, of whom Paul egotistically puts 
himself at the head, namely, Paul, Apollos, and Cephas. 
(1 Cor., i, 12 ; iii, 22.) In the next allusion to him Paul 
is again disposed to rank himself at least equal to his col- 
league by claiming as much right to lead about a sister 
or a woman {gunaika) as Cephas, (ix, 5.) He next 
speaks of Cephas as having had the first sight of the risen 
Christ ; but Paul is careful to add that he himself was 
lionored with the last vision of his ascended Lord, (xv, 
5,8.) 

Again, Paul having preached the Gospel to the Gen- 
tiles three years before he meets any of the Apostles, con- 
descends to go to Jerusalem to see his rival Cephas, (not 
Peter,) and abides with him fifteen days. (Gal. i, 18.) 



54. PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 

The language of the verse following, " But other of tha 
Apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother," 
implies that Cephas and James were Apostles. But else- 
where, and especially in 1 Cor., ix, 5, the implication is 
equally strong that Cephas was not an Apostle. In re- 
gard to James, however, there was doubtless a Jewish 
ascetic of that name to whom Paul refers — ^perhaps the 
same " law-abiding Pharisee " mentioned by Rabbi Wise 
as the Apostle James, and the reputed first Bishop of 
Jerusalem. He may have been called, also, the brother 
of the Lord on account of his austere piety ; but it has 
already been shown that the Lord's brother James, men- 
tioned in the Gospels, was not an Apostle, nor even a dis- 
ciple ; so that the identification of the James in Galatians 
with any Apostle of that name in the Gospels entirely 
fails. 

Again, fourteen years afterwards Paul goes to Jerusa- 
lem a second time to have a private conference with the 
leading brethren, and meets James, Cephas, and John ; 
but on this occasion, as before, he speaks disparagingly 
of the elder Apostles or brethren, and says that though 
they " seemed to be pillars," and gave him the right hand 
of fellowship to continue to preach to the heathen, yet in 
conference they added nothing to him. (Gal. ii, 6, 9.) 
If the three above-named pillars were all evangelical 
Apostles, then John was the third and last of the twelve 
Apostles that Paul ever saw. 

Finally, Paul having returned to Antioch, meets Cephas 
(not Peter) a third time, and has an altercation with him 
on the very same question which was supposed to have 
been settled at the conference in Jerusalem. Paul, seeing^ 
that Cephas and " other Jews " walked not uprightly, said 
to Cephas (not Peter) before them all, "If thou, being a 
Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as da 



PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 55 

the Jews, why conipellest thou the Gentiles to live as do 
the Jews?" (Gal. ii, 11, 14.) 

Here, then, we find, in Paul's own writings, the antag- 
onism between him and Cephas, which by tradition has 
been transferred to the so-called Apostle Peter. Eight 
times does Paul mention Cephas by name, making him 
the most prominent pillar of the church, always excepting 
himself ; for, with a jealousy that characterizes an inferior 
mind, he disparages the authority of the elder Apostles 
and exalts his own; and when Cephas ventures into 
Paul's diocese, Paul audaciously assails him in public face 
to face. 

But now see the cunning fraud perpetrated by the 
Fathers! In John i, 42, we read that when Andrew 
brought his brother Simon to the Messias, Jesus said to 
him, " Thou art Simon, the son of Jona ; thou shalt be 
called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone," or, 
literally, " which means Peter." {Petros.) This is the 
only place outside of Paul's Epistles where the name 
Cephas occurs, and it is written by a good Greek writer 
a hundred years after Paul. Cephas was a Greek name 
when Paul wrote, and it would seem that the Corinthian 
Church knew a preacher by that name. They used the 
Greek language, and Paul wrote in Greek.* But when 
the first three Evangelists wrote they knew no Cephas. 
Says Smith's Bible Dictionary : 

"When we consider that our Lord and the Apostles spoke Chal- 
dee, [Aramaic,] and that therefore the Apostle [Peter] must have 
been always addressed as Cephas, it is certainly remarkable that 
throughout the Gospels, no less than ninety-seven times, with one 
exception only, the name should be given in the Greek form, which 
was of later introduction and unintelligible to the Hebrews." 

*In a subsequent chapter, (xxiv, "Postscript about Peter,") 
doubt is thrown on the assumption that Paul's Epistles were written 
originally in Greek ; but if he wrote in Aramaic the case is still 
stronger that he knew no Peter. 



56 PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 

Yes, indeed, very remarkable ! If Jesus really named 
Simon " Cephas," and his comrades called him by the 
latter surname, that would certainly have been his name 
in the Gospel narrative. But the earlier Evangelists did 
not notice how absurd it was for Jesus to give to the Jew 
Simon the Greek surname Peter. It was an afterthought 
of the fourth Evangelist to smuggle in Cephas. In the 
lapse of a hundred years the name Cephas had faded 
away, and by some hocus-pocus that of Peter had assumed 
a prominent place in tradition and Gospel fiction. The 
fourth Evangelist, who was doubtless some Father of the 
2d century, saw that unless Paul's Cephas could be 
identified with the Apostle Peter, Paul would be ruled 
out of the Church as being in no way connected with any 
of the contemporary Apostles. So John makes Jesus 
note the circumstance, that as " Kephas " in the dialect 
of Palestine (or rather "Kepha") means rock, and " Pe- 
tros " in Greek (or rather " Petra ") means rock also, so 
Peter should be called Cephas, which means the same 
thing. And thus, too, the Church would still be founded 
on the rock Cephas, so that the gates of Hell could not 
prevail against it. 

Only think of Jesus saying, as he must have done if 
the narrative of Matt, xvi, 18, is -historical, " Thou art 
Cephas^ and upon this cepha will I build my church ! " 
Says the commentator Lightfoot : 

"It is more than probable that Christ called his name Cephas, 

uttering and sounding the s, .and that the addition of that letter 

was not from the Evangelist, but from Christ himself." 

Oh ! no, learned Lightfoot, it was the Evangelist, the 
pseudo Matthew, who wrote it Petros, knowing nothing 
about any Apostle Cephas.* 

*See again Chapter xxiv for evidence that the Gospels were 
originally written in Aramaic. 



PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 67 

The next thing done to transform Cephas into Peter 
was to tamper with Paul's Epistles. Eight times, as we 
have .pointed out, the name Cephas occurs in Paul's writ- 
ings. But not until the recent discovery or publication 
of the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament, was it 
known that the later Fathers, or priestly scribes, had 
erased Cephas three times (in Gal. i, 18, and ii, 11, 14) 
and inserted Peter. Scarcely yet have the critics begun 
to see the significance of this audacious forgery. The 
Sinaitic, Vatican, and Alexandrian manuscripts of the 4th 
and 5th centuries all have it Cephas. This restoration 
corrects the error of our translations, and makes Paul 
the antagonist of Cephas, not of Peter. It breaks the 
chain which has bound Paul to Peter. 

But there is another false though unimportant link that 
remains attached to Paul which we must dispose of. In 
Gal. ii, 7, 8, the name Peter occurs twice in all ancient 
manuscripts except the Sinaitic, which is the oldest, and 
there it occurs but once. The verses literally translated 
read thus : 

"But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the 
Gospel of the uncircumcision, even as Peter, of the circumcision ; 
ffor he having inwardly wrought in Peter for an aj)ostleship of the 
circumcision,] inwardly wrought also in me for the Gentiles ; — " 

The portion in brackets is omitted in the oldest (Sina- 
itic) manuscript, but it may be an error of the scribe. 
The sense without the inclosure is not so good as with 
it. To say that Peter inwardly wrought in Paul is not 
so intelligible as to say that he who wrought in Peter 
wrought also in Paul, leaving the reader to infer that 
" he " means some higher being. Conceding, therefore, 
that in the oldest manuscripts the name Peter occurs 
twice, is it not very singular that it should be lugged in 
thus parenthetically, where it does not belong ? Strike 



58 PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 

out all after " uncircumcision " in verses 7 and 8, and the 
passage is smooth, clear, coherent, and grammatical. In- 
sert the doubtful portion about Peter, and it is rough, 
obscure, incoherent, and ungrammatical. Without that 
portion the punctuation of the passage is simple and 
easy, thus: 

" But on the contrary, seeing that I was entrusted with the Gos- 
pel of the uncircumcision, and perceiving the grace that was given 
unto me, James, Cephas, and John gave to me and Barnabas the 
right hand of fellowship," &c. 

Insert the doubtful part, and an attempt to punctuate 
the passage is puzzling enough. 

The post-Nicene Fathers, as we have proved, interpo- 
lated Peter three times for a specific purpose. How 
much more likely would the ante-Nicene Fathers interpo- 
late the name once or twice for the same purpose, either 
by adding a clause containing it, or by doing as their suc- 
cessors did, erasing Cephas and inserting Peter t And is 
it not strange, nay, unaccountable, if an Apostle Peter 
really existed and was as prominent as the Gospels make 
him, that the only notice Paul takes of him is to thrust 
his name in a parenthetical clause, marring the sense and 
involving the passage beyond the remedy of punctuation, 
just to tell us what ? Only that Peter preached the Gos- 
pel of circumcision — just what James, Cephas, and John 
did ! Peter might well have felt slighted at so meagre a 
notice from Paul. But on the contrary, if the 2d Epistle 
attributed to him is genuine, he forgives Paul for the 
slight, calls him a beloved brother, and ranks his writings 
among the Holy Scriptures at a time when nothing but 
Old Testament writings were considered canonical ! But 
that is too thin. It was a spurious Peter number two in 
the 2d century who made that flattering reference to 
his " brother Paul," and some counterfeit Paul of later 



PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 59 

date returned the favor by a mild counter- compliment to 
Peter, as the Apostle of the circumcision. 

And now, in corroboration of the proof that Cephas 
was not Peter, Anticheist appeals to Eusebius, the father 
of church history, who says : 

" Clement, in the fifth of his Institutions, in which he also men- 
tions Cephas, (of whom Paul also says, that he came to Antioch, 
and ' that he withstood him face to face,') says, that one who had 
the same name with Peter the Apostle was one of the seventy." 
(Book 1, chap, xii.) 

That is, Cephas, whose name was the same in meaning 
as Peter, (Kephas, Petros, Stone,) was not an Apostle, 
but one of the seventy. When Eusebius wrote this, the 
name Cephas in Gal. i. 18. and ii, 11, 14, had not been 
changed to Peter ; nor is it probable that the name Peter 
existed in Gal. ii, 7, 8. All the Biblical critics, so far as 
we are aware, except Kobert Taylor, have assumed that 
Cephas and Peter were the same. Taylor denies their 
identity, but makes no elaborate argument to disprove it. 
He was far in advance of his time, and the flood of light 
which has been thrown on Biblical questions during the 
fifty years since he wrote, is beginning to reveal the sub- 
stantial correctness of his positions. 

A cursory notice of what Smith's Bible Dictionary says 
about Peter's martyrdom at Rome, will complete the argu- 
ment against the existence of such an Apostle. In a long 
and elaborate article on " Peter," it says : 

" It may be considered as a settled point that he did not visit 

Bome before the last year of his life The fact, however, of St. 

Peter's martydom at Eome rests upon very different grounds 

We have in the first place the certainty of his martyrdom in our 
Lord's own prediction. (John xxi, 18, 19.)" 

" Our Lord's own prediction " written by pseudo John 
in the last half of the second century 1 This is the first 
proof of Peter's martyrdom ; what is the second ? 



60 



PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETER. 



" Clement of Rome, writing before the end of tlie first century, 
speaks of it, but does not mention the place, that being of course 
well known to his readers." 

The Epistle of Clement referred to, has been assigned 
heretofore by most critics to the end of the first century, 
(a. d, 95-100 ;) but later critics fix the date not earlier 
than A. D. 120-125. Its authenticity is suspicious and 
the Epistle is much interpolated. (Sup. Rel., vol. i, p. 
222.) It is the only Christian record, outside of the New 
Testament, that can by any possibility fall within the first 
century, but the weight of authority brings it this side.* 

The next proof of Peter's being at Eome is the follow- 
ing: 

" Ignatius, in the undoubtedly genuine Epistle to the Romans, 
(ch. iv,) speaks of St. Peter in terms which imply special connec- 
tion with their church." 

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Komans is not "un- 
doubtedly genuine." The vast majority of critics have 
expressed doubt regarding the authenticity of all his Epis- 
tles, and a large number have repudiated them altogether. 
He writes to the Komans as if arrested in Syria to be 
taken to Rome, there to be " ground by the teeth of wild 
beasts." It has been demonstrated that Ignatius was not 
sent to Rome at all, but was cast to wild beasts in the 
amphitheatre at Antioch, Dec. 20, a. d. 115, in consequence 
of a fanatical excitement produced by an earthquake 
which took place seven days prior. The whole of the 
Ignatian literature is a mass of falsification and fraud. 
(Sub. Rel., vol. i, p. 266-9.) 

The remaining proofs adduced in the Bible Dictionary 
all fall this side of the middle of the 2d century, and are 
therefore as incompetent as the contemporary Gospels 
and book of Acts. 

* See chapter xxiv for evidence against this mention of Peter in 
Clement's Epistle. 



PAUL KNEW NO APOSTLE PETEK. 61 

Antichrist therefore claims to have fulfilled his prom- 
ise to sever the forged chain that has hitherto bound Paul 
and Peter together. Paul answers to a hook and swivel 
attached to the Christian edifice ; Peter to a piece of arti- 
ficial stone suspended to the hook and swivel by several 
links of chain forged by the Fathers. This chain has 
been interlaced and covered over with some tough yarn 
spun by the author of the book of Acts. Without this 
yarn the chain would have broken long ago. But the 
woolly stuff being torn away by the teeth of modern crit- 
icism, the chain has parted at the top, letting Peter drop. 
Nothing now remains of the chain but two links stamped 
with Peter's name and attached to the swivel. But these 
two links are made of pewter, and much corroded. Let 
them remain as long as they may, they will do no harm. 
Peter has sunk to the bottom of the sea, where, but for 
the aid of an imaginary Savior, he would have been sub- 
merged 1850 years ago, while Paul remains high and dry, 
hanging on to Christianity by his own hook, just as he 
always wanted to. There let him hang while humanity 
marches on. 



CHAPTER Xy. 
ANTICHKIST PEIOE TO JEWS CHRIST. 

In John viii, 58, Jesus is reported as saying, " Before 
Abraham was [born] I am." Following the example of 
his illusive predecessor, except in the grammar, Anti- 
CHEiST now saith, "Before Jesus Christ was born I was." 
In proof of which he cites from that rare and learned 
work, Higgins's " Anacalypsis," (vol. i, p. 382,) the fol- 
lowing : 

"Christians are said to have received the name Christian at Anti- 



62 ANTICHRIST PEIOR TO JESUS CHRIST. 

och. At first they were everywhere considered by the Gentiles as 
Jews, as they really were, and the God of Seleucus was called Anti- 
christ by the Jews." 

Seleucus Nicator (born 358, died 280 b. c.) founded the 
€ity of Antioch, whicli was finished by Antiochus Epiph- 
anes, 175-164 b. c. 

"This [name Antichrist] would be in the Gcveek Anti-Ghrestos^ 
or an opponent or second Ghrestos, meaning against the good or 
holy one, (the Holy one of Israel,) and this would cause the Chris- 
tians, the servants of the God of the Jews, to call themselves fol- 
lowers of the Chrestos, or of the good demon, the opposite of Anti- 
christ. And from this it was that Theodoret and other Fathers 
maintained that the city of Antioch was the type of Antichrist." 

We will show hereafter how Chrestos was changed to 
Ohristos. 

"The antichristian Antioch — antichristian before the birth of 
Christ — unravels the mystery. Nimrod has most clearly proved 
that the Seleucidae [a dynasty of kings in Syria] meant to convert 
the city of Antioch into a sacred place, and to found their empire 
upon a close connection between church and State ; but he has not 
observed that Buddha and the Grand Lama of Thibet were their 
models. The Grand Lama, the successor of Buddha, was at that 
time probably an efficient monarch, and not reduced to the inanity 
of the present one by the priests. Jerusalem was set up by the An- 
tichrist David, as the Samaritans would call him, in opposition to 
the old worship on [mount] Gerizim, and Antioch was the same in 
opposition to Jerusalem. 

"Thus we discover the origin of Antichrist, with whom modern 
Christians have so long amused or tormented themselves. 

" Another reason why they called Antioch by the name Antichrist 
was, because the king of it usurped the name Epiphanes, or mani- 
festation of God to the Gentiles, which belonged only to their 
God. Notwithstanding the destruction of the books at Antioch 
under the superintendence of the Apostles [Paul and Barnabas?] 
and of the priests [Timothy and Titus ?] — systematically continued 
to the present day in all other countries — enough has escaped to 
prove it was the doctrine of the ancient [heathen] religion, that a 
Savior should come at the end of the Seculum, [world or age.]" 



ANTICHRIST PRIOR TO JESUS CHRIST. 63 

Attention, Second- Adventists ! The heathens who lived 
200 years before your Christ was born looked and longed 
like you for the coming of their Savior at the end of the 
world or age. The book of Daniel was written about that 
time, and not 534 b. c, as you suppose. By hoodwinking 
the people into the belief that it was written 300 years 
before, and predicted what had happened, it set them 
crazy about the coming of the Son of Man. That was 
what ailed John the Baptist and John the Revelator. 
They looked for the coming of an avenging Lord, " clothed 
with a vesture dipped in blood," who should burn up the 
chaff with unquenchable fire," "tread the wine-press of 
the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God," and cast his 
innumerable enemies into the "lake of fire and brim- 
stone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be 
tormented day and night for ever and ever." 

Oh ! what a blessed Savior ! How meek, how lowly, 
how loving ! Yet such was the sanguinary Messiah that 
preceded the gentle Jesus of the Gospels. 

Following in the wake of Daniel came the book of 
Enoch, written about 100 years b. c, which prophesied 
the coming of the Lord " with ten thousand of his saints 
to execute judgment upon all ungodly sinners." The 
author of the Epistle of Jude, and some of the rest of the 
Fathers, accepted the book of Enoch as canonical. The 
advent delusion was fomented by John the Baptist, and 
culminated in the production of the book of Revelation, 
A. D. 68-69. The claim set up by Christians that the 
Bible is a revelation from God, is nowhere supported by 
its own allegations, except in the very last book of the 
canon, which reads, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 
which God gave unto him ; . . . . and he sent and signified 
it by his angel unto his servant John." Now of all the 
books in the Bible the Revelation is the least intelligible. 



64 ANTICHEIST PRIOR TO JESUS CHRIST. 

It is literally a Revelation which reveals nothing. On the 
contrary, it is full of riddles which nobody can solve, ex- 
cept, perhaps, one, and that is as to " the number of the 
beast," (xiii, 18.) Out of the multitude of guesses, the 
most rational one is, that it means the Emperor Nero, 
who had just committed suicide, the letters of whose 
name in Hebrew (Caesar Nero) count up just 666. 

Second- adventism began when first-adventism failed of 
fulfilment. The expected Messiah {Chris tos) did not 
appear, and the disappointment doubtless led to the fab- 
rication of the story that Jesus Christ had already come 
in the flesh, or spirit, had suffered death, was buried, rose 
again, and ascended on high, from whence he would come 
again to judge the world. But continued delay of the 
expected second coming chilled the ardor of the primitive 
belief until the approach of the year 1000 revived it and 
set all Europe in commotion, causing holy wars and the 
destruction of millions of lives. But the foolish fanati- 
cism was again doomed to disappointment, and faded 
away before the stern reality of Saracenic success. Again, 
at the period of the Reformation second-adventism ex- 
perienced a partial revival, because it was easy for the 
Protestant to conceive that the Pope was Antichrist. But 
more rational views prevailed, in spite of the positive 
Millenarian teachings of the New Testament, and now 
when the disorder breaks out it assumes a milder form 
and infects a fewer number. 

The swallowing of the many " horns " dealt out by 
Daniel and John has made multitudes beastly drunk. 
The writer himself, in his youthful days, got muddled with 
the intoxicating draught. It produced a religious delirium 
tremens which afflicted him for seven years, until from 
other sources his " knowledge was increased," and he 
" understood by books " (Dan. ix, 2) that ancient prophecy 



ANTICHRIST PEIOK TO JESUS CHRIST. 65 

was a fraud ; whereupon he became restored to sobriety, 
and now in the autumn of hfe he enjoys a peace of mind 
which passeth the understanding of Adventists or any 
other sort of Christians. 

Long before the Christian era Christs and Antichrists 
existed in name. In the Septuagint, translated 384-247 
B. c, which was in common, if not almost exclusive, use 
among the Jews two centuries before and three centuries 
after the Christian era, and was the only version known 
to the Fathers, the frequent word Messiah is translated 
Ghristos. Ancient false prophets warned their followers 
against other false prophets, and false Christs foretold 
other false Christs. Many said, "Lo, here is Christ," 
and " Lo, there is Antichrist." The Christs were all false ; 
but the Antichrists, who denied that Christ had come in 
the flesh, told the truth. Therefore, hear ye Antichrist. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA. 

Old editions of the English Bible contain a number of 
books called the Apocrypha, which the Protestant churches 
reject as uncanonical. They no longer appear in the edi- 
tions issued by the Bible Societies, having been excluded 
since 1826. The early Fathers generally adopted these 
books as of equal authority with the rest of the Old Tes- 
tament. Jerome (a. d. 400) says that the book of Judith 
was "reckoned among the Sacred Scriptures by the Synod 
of Nice." (a. d. 325.) The council of Hippo Begins (a. d. 
393) and the third and fifth councils of Carthage, (a. d. 
397 and 419,) at all three of which Augustine was present 
and took a leading part, placed most of them in the sacred 
canon ; and the council of Trent (1545-63) declared them 



66 THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA. 

of equal authority with the other Scriptures. The Greek 
Church at the council of Laodicea (a. d. 363) admitted 
only two of the books into the canon, but at the Synod 
held at Jerusalem in 1672 they were all recognized as in- 
spired books. 

A Protestant Bible containing the Apocrypha is now 
exceedingly rare, but a Catholic or Douay Bible, contain- 
ing all but the two books of Esdras and the Prayer of 
Manasses, can be bought for a dollar and a half. There 
are two books of Esdras in the Douay Bible, but they are 
the same as Ezra and Nehemiah in the Protestant ver- 
sion. Prior to the council of Trent the other two books 
of Esdras were contained in the Latin Vulgate, and known 
as the 3d and 4th of Esdras. They also existed in the Sep- 
tuagint from which the Vulgate was derived. 

"Why are the so-called Apocryphal books excluded from 
the canon by Jews and Protestants "? To say they are not 
historically, prophetically, or morally true, is to condemn 
every other book of the Old Testament ; for just criticism 
rejects them all upon those grounds. The curse of the 
Westminster Assembly rests upon the Freethinker for 
discrediting the Bible ; the anathema of the Vatican is 
hurled against the Protestant for rejecting the Apocry- 
pha. 

The value of the Apocrypha to Christianity is question- 
able, except as regards the 2d book of Esdras, which both 
Catholics and Protestants repudiate. And yet this rejected 
book contains the unequivocal prophecy of the coming of 
Jesus Christ in these remarkable words : 

" For my Son Jesus shall be revealed with those that be with him, 
and they that remain shall rejoice within four hundred years. And 
after these years shall my Son Christ die, and all men that have 
life." (2 Esd., vii, 28, 29.) 

No wonder the Church in the 16th century rejected 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCKYPHA. 67 

such a prophetic book as that ! The 400 years had ex- 
pired some 1500 years before, and though Jesus Christ 
was beheved to have died, about a thousand milhon of 
people still lived ! The prophecy that Jesus Christ by 
name was to come and die, was more stunning than any- 
thing to be found in all the rest of the old Scriptures, 
but the simultaneous death of all mankind was a stultifier. 
Wisely, therefore, did the council of Trent repudiate Es- 
dras, even at the risk of a recoiling stroke from the boom- 
erang it hurled at those who did not hold the rest of the 
books "sacred and canonical." 

Assuming the substantial integrity of the above quota- 
tion from Esdras, it suggests a riddle harder to solve 
than that of the number of the beast. Was the prophecy 
written before or after the alleged advent of Christ ? If 
before, how, except by miraculous inspiration, could the 
writer foretell, as he did, the coming of Jesus Christ by 
name ? If after, how could he so stultify his prophecy as 
to make the death of all mankind a past event 1 

The book purports to be a revelation to the prophet 
Esdras (Greek for Ezra) as he lay troubled upon his bed 
in Babylon "in the 30th year after the ruin of the city," 
(iii, 1.) This would fix the date as early as 508 b. c, 
but the canonical book of Ezra comes down to 456 b. c. 
Clement of Alexandria, who flourished about a. d. 200, 
ascribes the book to the "prophet" Ezra. But that would 
put the coming and death of Christ, at the end of the 
"400 years," half a century or more too soon, to say 
nothing of the death of the rest of mankind. Modern 
critics fix the date of the book variously from about 60 
B. c. to A. D. 90-98. With these assignable limits, the ques- 
tion is, Was the prophecy written before Christ, or after 
the end of the world ? " Here is wisdom ; let him that 
liath understanding " solve the riddle. 



68 THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA. 

Antichrist, with becoming modesty, and with no more 
confidence than he used to have when, as a Millenarian, 
he undertook to unravel prophetic yarn, will now attempt 
a solution. 

The ancient readers of the Septuagint, the only version 
of the Old Testament in general use for 200 years b. c, 
were familiar with the word Ghristos. It was the Greek 
translation of the Hebrew word llashiach, (anointed,) 
and sometimes designated in the Old Testament the ex- 
pected great Deliverer or Savior. In the Protestant Bible 
Mashiach is always rendered " anointed," except in two 
instances, (Dan. ix, 25, 26,) where it is "Messiah" — not a 
translation, but a transfer. The Douay Bible has " Christ " 
in the aforesaid two verses, and six times elsewhere, but 
in every other instance it is "anointed." The author of 
John's Gospel, one of the latest books of the New Testa- 
ment, twice uses in the Greek the word Messias, (i, 41 ; 
iv, 25.) His example of coining a Greek word was fol- 
lowed by King James's translators in the English of Dan. 
ix, 25, 26. Ha Mashiach of the Jews was ho Ghristos of 
the Greeks, and simply meant " the anointed." 

Again, the name Joshua or Jesus (for, like Jacob and 
James, they were the same) meant Savior. Consequently, 
whenever the supposed Deliverer or Savior of the Jews 
should come, he would of necessity be called Jesus the 
Christ. 

Now when 2d Esdras was written, (say at any time be- 
tween the appearance of the book of Daniel about 168 b. c. 
and the fabrication of the Gospel stories of a crucified 
Son of God,) it was safe enough to prophesy the coming 
of Jesus the Christ. Already had the author of Daniel 
predicted the cutting off of the Messiah, (rendered Chris- 
tos in the Septuagint,) so that the believers of Daniel's 
prophecy expected the Ghristos to come and to die. But 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA. 69 

the author of 2d Esdras, more boldly inspired, prefixed 
** my Son " to Christos, and, unless the translation into 
the Latin Vulgate is at fault, wrote in the Original Greek, 
^*my Son Jesus." Daniel had predicted that the Christos 
would be cut off after a certain number of weeks from a 
certain pretended future event. Esdras begins his pro- 
phetic period with himself, and says, " My Son Jesus* 

shall be revealed within four hundred years ; and 

after these years shall my Son Christ die, and all men 
that have life." 

Jeremiah had prophesied that the captivity would last 
seventy years, but it fell short eighteen years, (see margi- 
nal chronology, 2 Chron., xxxvi, and Ezra i,) and the high 
hopes of returning glory predicted by the prophets had 
been disappointed. So a pretended and presumptuous 
Daniel transmutes the seventy years into seventy weeks 
of years, (for it is all but universally admitted that weeks 
of years is meant,) and foretells future events up to the 
end of the world, or the setting up of God's everlasting 
kingdom. Still later the counterfeit Ezra puts forth his 
prophecy, now under consideration. The author was not 
a Christian, but a Jew, for he says, "Is there any other 
people that knoweth thee besides Israel ? . . . . Israel by 
name hath kept thy precepts, but not the heathen." (iii, 
32, 36.) Therefore, even though, as the more liberal 
critics think, he wrote as late as a. d. 90-98, he evidently 
was not one who believed that Jesus Christ had come, 
even in a spiritual way, as the earliest Christians held. 
Tery likely he was an Essene, a sect out of which Euse- 
bius (bk. ii, chap. 17) expressly affirms that Christianity 
sprang. Like Daniel, he foretold the resurrection and 
judgment, (vii, 30-33,) thus : 

=^ The Arabic and Ethiopic versions both have ' ' Messiah " instead 
of "Jesus," which raises a suspicion that in the original Greek it 
-was not lesous, but Ghristos, as in the verse following. 



70 THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA. 

" And the world shall be turned into the old silence seven days, 
like as in the former judgments, so that no man shall remain. And 
after seven days the world that yet awaketh n((»t shall be raised up, 
and that shall die that is corrupt. And the earth shall restore those 
that are asleep in her, and so shall the dust those that dwell in si- 
lence, and the secret places shall deliver those souls that were com- 
mitted unto them. And the Most High shall appear upon the seat 
of judgment, and misery shall pass away, and the long suffering 
shall have an end. " 

The book in question was probably written before any 
story of Christ crucified, ideal or real, was concocted. 
Four hundred years after the prophecy was recorded 
Jesus Christ was to come and die ; then after seven days 
the general resurrection and judgment were to take place. 
And this accords with the writer's view (xiv, 10-12) as to 
the age of the world : 

"For the world hath lost his youth, and the times begin to wax 
old. For the world is divided into twelve parts, and the ten parts 
of it are gone already and half of a tenth [twelfth ?] part ; and 
there remaineth that which is after the half of the tenth part." 

In other words, only one-eighth part of the earth's life- 
time remained ; so that if that one-eighth represented 400 
years, the age of the world at the time of the v^rriter would 
have been 2800 years, and its entire age was to be 3200 
years. 

But to return to the prophecy concerning Christ, here 
is one (ii, 42-47) which is unmistakable, even though the 
name Jesus Christ is not given, as in the former instance : 

"I, Esdras, saw upon the Mount Sion a great people whom I 
could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs. And 
in the midst of them there was a young man of high stature, taller 
than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, 
and was more exalted ; which I marvelled at greatly. So I asked 
the angel and said, Sir, what are these ? He answered and said unto 
me, These are they that have put off the mortal clothing and have 
put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God ; now 
are they crowned and receive palms. Then said I unto the angel. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA. 71 

What young person is it that crowneth them and giveth them pahns 
in their hands ? So he answered and said unto me, It is the 8on 
of God whom they have confessed in the world. " 

Go to, Second Adventists ! What can you find in the 
prophecies at all comparable with that of Esdras as to the 
corning of your Jesus Christ ? It was as genuine a proph- 
ecy as any ever written, but unfortunately it foretold too 
much, and therefore you are compelled to repudiate the 
most " sure word of prophecy " that was ever recorded in 
Holy Writ. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 

The Sibylline oracles, which existed long before the 
Christian era, were destroyed during the burning of Rome, 
A. D. 66, but like some of the Old Testament books, which 
were lost or destroyed during the Babylonish captivity, 
and afterwards re- written from memory or tradition, so a 
new collection of the Sibylline books was made after the 
fire in Rome. These books are quoted by the early Chris- 
tian Fathers as the Word of God, and so great was their 
estimation and use in the Church of the 2d and 3d cen- 
turies, that Christians were nicknamed Sibyllists. (Orig. 
agt. Cels., V, 61; vii, 53, 56.) 

The most celebrated of the Sibylline books, the Eryth- 
rean, contains an acrostic in Greek, now extant, the initial 
letters of which are — 

liqsov^ XpfKJT'oj, 0£OD Ttoj, 2wT'i;fp, Stcwpof.* 

That the acrostic was written at least a century b. c. is 
pretty certain ; but for our present purpose it is sufficient 

*Iesous Ghreistos, TJieou TJios. Soter, Stauros. 
Jesus Chreist, God's Son, Savior, Stake. 



72 CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 

to date it any time prior to Justin Martyr, (a. d. 150,) the 
earliest Christian writer of undisputed authenticity. He 
pointedly says that the Cumaean Sibyl (identified by Aris- 
totle and others with the Erythrean) predicted " in a clear 
and patent manner the advent of our Savior Jesus Christ." 
(Add. to Greeks, ch. 38.) Doubtless Justin had reference 
to the above acrostic. 

Constantine, in his Oration to the Clergy, (ch. 18, 19,) 
ax3peals to the same prophecy of the Erythrean Sibyl as 
declaring " the history of Jesus " and " a certain testi- 
mony of Christ's divinity." Rendering the Greek initial 
letters into Latin, Jesus Christus, Dei Filius, Seri^ator, 
Crux, he adds : 

" It is evident that the Virgin [Sibyl] uttered these verses under 
the influence of divine inspiration; and I cannot but esteem her 
blessed whom the Savior thus selected to unfold his gracious 
purposes toward us Many, however, who admit that the Ery- 
threan Sibyl was really a prophetess, yet refuse to credit this 
prediction, and imagine that some one professing our faith and not 
unacquainted with the poetic art, was the composer of these verses. 
They hold, in short, that they are a forgery The truth, how- 
ever, in this case is evident, since the diligence of our country- 
men has made a careful computation of the times, so that there is 
no room to suspect that this poem was composed after the advent 
and condemnation of Christ, or that the general report is false, that 
the verses were a prediction of the Sibyl in an early age. For it is 
allowed that Cicero was acquainted with this poem, which he trans- 
lated into the Latin language and incorporated with his own 
works." 

Gibbon, referring to the same Oration, (ch. xx, note 
59,) says that the initial letters of the thirty-four Greek 
verses formed the acrostic. With ei in Chreistos there 
are exactly thirty-four initial letters. If the word had 
been derived from chrio, " to anoint," it would certainly 
have been written Christos. And if the Christians had 
forged the acrostic after the time of Justin they would 



CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 73 

have made it Ghristos, not Chreistos. The Pagans would 
have made it anything but Ghristos, for their Savior 
needed no anointing. 

Cicero, who was born 106 b. c, assails the Sibyl's 
prophecy as too vague in regard to the great person 
whose coming is foretold, and points to the " art and 
contrivance" that appear in the "acrostic." (De Div., 
lib. ii.) 

Eusebius affirms that Cicero quoted these very verses 
which contain the acrostic. 

It was also noticed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who 
lived more than 30 years b. c, and by Varro, who was 
born 116 years b. c; and what is remarkable, they both 
speak of disputes in their day about the genuineness of 
the acrostics. (Floyer's Sibyls, p. 463.) The charge of 
forgery was made and maintained by Pagans. The early 
Christians asserted the genuineness of the Sibylline 
prophecies ; modern Christians would fain repudiate 
them. Their antiquity is as certain as that of any New 
Testament writings, which some of them no doubt ante- 
date. 

One thing remarkable about this acrostic is, that the 
first letters of the words, lesous Chreistos, Theou Uios, 
Soter, spell IChThUS, " a Fishy One of the three great 
prevailing sects in India is the Yaishnavas, or worshippers 
of Yishnu, whose astronomical symbol is the Fish, whose 
first incarnation was in the body of a Fish, and whose 
ninth and last was in the person of Ohristna, also called 
by his disciples Jezeus. (Bib. in Ind.) 

The early Christians were known by a great variety of 
names, and among others by a very extraordinary one, 
namely, Pisciculi, or little fishes. They called themselves 
in their sacred mysteries by the name Iiohthus, meaning 



74 CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 

I (Tesous) and Ichthus. Jesus is called a fish by Augus- 
tine, who says he found the purity of Jesus Christ in the 
word fish ; "for he is a fish that lives in the midst of the 
waters." Some of the early Christian tombs have fishes 
inscribed on them. (Anacal., vol. ii.) 

But what we regard as more remarkable and significant 
is the spelling of Ohreistos. The word is not found in 
our Greek lexicons, and yet it was in use long before the 
Christian era. It could not have been derived from chrio, 
" to anoint," therefore it was not spelt Christos. It prob- 
ably existed in the Greek language before the 17 (e, sounded 
like ey in they) was in use, therefore it was not spelt 
Ohrestos. In later times bv was sometimes changed to »/, 
but seldom, if ever, was c changed to >?. Ohreistos may 
have been derived from the verb chrao, (Ionic chreo or 
chreio,) the root of the word Ohrestos, " good, benignant, 
worthy." The first trace, therefore, of the name of Christ 
in Greek was probably Ohreistos, as in the Sibylline 
acrostic ; then it was changed to Ohrestos; and lastly to 
Ghristos, or in Latin, Ohristus, uniting the "good" or 
"beneficent" being of the Greeks with "the anointed 
one " of the Jews and Christians. 

The word Chrestos has been found engraved on Greek 
monuments erected before the Christian era. Dr. Clarke 
in his travels (vol. iv, p. 189) found an inscription behind 
a sacred altar in honor of a youth of Larissa in Thessaly, 
with Ohrestos and a bleeding or wounded heart at the 
top, and JEJros at the bottom; the former signifying a 
beneficent being, (probably a name for Apollo,) and the 
latter Cupid or Divine Love. The sacred heart is found 
on an Indian monument of Bal-ii, an incarnation of 
Vishnu, with a wound in the side. That Chrestos was 
not the name of the person entombed is proved by the 



CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 75 

fact that all the epitaphs of Larisseans which Spon has 
preserved contain the word.* 

Suetonius, (a. d. 110,) in his Life of Claudius, who 
reigned from a. d. 41 to 54, says that " he drove the Jews, 
who, at the instigation of Ohrestus, were constantly riot- 
ing, out of Rome." (Ch. 25.) If Jesus Christ was the 
person referred to, then he was a Jewish leader of riots in 
Rome. Furthermore, if this was a historical reference to 
Jesus Christ, it is the first undoubtedly genuine heathen 
evidence as to his name, which was not Christus but 
Chrestus. The latter is frequently found inscribed upon 
ancient Latin monuments, as well as Chrestos in Greek 
and Latin, but never Christus or Christos until the Cath- 
olic religion prevailed. Chrestos was a very proper name 
in Greek, but Christos would be as ridiculous as the name 
Greasy in English. The Latin language had no Chrestus 
until it was transferred from the Greek. 

The celebrated passage in Tacitus, if genuine, was writ- 
ten about the same time that Suetonius wrote, or a little 
later. But there can be no reasonable doubt that the 
passage in Tacitus is either a forgery or a corruption. 
It is therefore immaterial that it has Christus and Ghris- 
tianos once. Even in Suetonius's life of Nero we find 
Christiani once. It would be easy and natural for the 
transcriber to change Ohrestiani to Christiani, but who 
would think of altering Christus to Chrestus f May there 
not have been a Galilean Jew named Chrestus, ("the 
good," in the estimation of the Jews, because he resisted 
oppression,) a, leader of insurrections against Rome? 
Who knows but that the name of " Chrestus " became a 
watchword among the rebellious Jews, and was after- 

* Among the numerous Greek inscriptions recently found in 
Cyprus by Gen. Cesnola the most common is Ghreste chaire, "Dear 
one farewell." (Cyprus, pp. 433-436.) 



76 CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 

wards coupled with Joshua or Jesus (the Savior) and 
changed to Christos 1 We have no manuscripts older 
than the 4th century, and as it is conceded that all the 
writings that we have have been tampered with, who can 
say that the name of Jesus was not at first Chrestos, or 
^' Jesus the good f 

Theophilus of Antioch (a. d. 168-188) puns upon the 
name Christian. " I, for my part," says he, (B. i, ch. 1,) 
" avow that I am a Christian, and bear this name beloved 
of God, hoping to be serviceable, {euchrestos.)" In ch. 
12 this punning is kept up throughout, thus : 

" And about your laughing at me, calling me ' Christian,' you 
know not what you are saying. First, because that which is 
anointed is sweet (^Chrestos) and serviceable, (euchrestos,) and far 

from contemptible And what work has either ornament or 

beauty unless it be anointed or burnished ? Then the air and 
all that is under h'eaven is in a certain sort anointed by light and 
spirit, and are you unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God ? 
Wherefore we are called Christians on this account because we are 
anointed with the oil of God." 

Clement of Alexandria (a. d. 189-202) in like manner 
says, (Misc., B. ii, ch. 4 :) " Now those who have believed 
in Christ both are and are called good, {Chrestoi.)" 

Lactantius, an eminent Christian author, (a. d. 301- 
330,) says that the Greeks " were accustomed, through a 
mistake of ignorance (?) by the change of a letter, to say 
Ohrestus." (Div. Inst., B. iv, ch. 7.) 

Tertullian, the first of the Latin Fathers, (a. d. 193^ 
220, says : 

" But Christian, so far as the meaning of the word is concerned, 
is derived from anointing. Yes, and even when it is wrongly pro- 
nounced by you Chrestianus, (for you do not even know accurately 
the name you hate,) it comes from sweetness and benignity." 
(Apol., Sec. 3. See also Ad. Nat., ch. 3.) 

In the light of the facts already presented, it would 



CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 77 

seem, at least, that the Greeks were right in regard to 
the name Chrestos, and the two Latin Fathers, Lactan- 
tius and TertulHan, wrong. If Christianity originated 
among Greek-speaking people, and the Epistles and the 
Gospels were originally written in Greek, how absurd for 
the Latins to charge the Greeks with error and ignorance 
as to th^ name of their Savior ! 

But let an impartial witness speak. Lucian, a heathen 
Greek poet, who wrote a little earlier than Tertullian, in 
his " Philopatris " makes Triephon say, in answer to the 
question whether the affairs of the Christians were re- 
corded in Heaven, "All nations are there recorded, since 
Chrestos exists among the Gentiles." 

Another witness, Julian, falsely named the Apostate, 
(a. d. 361-3,) calls the Baptist Chrestos Joannes. 

To these let us add the testimony of a modern Church 
historian, Bingham, (1726,) who, in his "Antiquities of 
the Christian Church," (B. i, ch. 1,) says that the Chris- 
tians were not at first, nor for a long time, called Chris- 
tians. 

Justin Martyr, one of, if not the, earliest and best of 
the authenticated Fathers, calls the Christians Chres- 
tianoi. Not that the word is so found in his writings ; 
oh ! no, the priestly scribes have been careful to change 
the e to i. In his "First Apology," ch. 4, this passage 
occurs : 

" So far, at least, as one may judge from tlie name we are accused 

of, we are most excellent (creslotatoi) people For we are accused 

of being Christians, and to hate what is excellent (chrestos) is 
unjust." 

Here it was impossible to change chrestotatoi or chres- 
tos, but in the word Christianoi the e has evidently been 
changed to i, for the sense certainly requires Chrestianoi, 
as any Greek scholar must see. 



78 CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 

Again : in ch. 7 we have the following : 

" And this we acknowledge, that as among the Greeks those who 
teach such theories as please themselves are all called by the one 
name * Philosopher,' though their doctrines be diverse, so among 
the Barbarians this name on which accusations are accumulated, 
is the common property of those who are and those who seem 
wise. For all are called Christians.'^ 

Orthodox critics have suspected that in both tHe above 
passages e has been changed to i in Ghristian,oi. May 
not a like corruption have been made everywhere else ? 
What though Justin, in his " Second Apology " (chap. 6) 
recognizes as one reason for calling the Son of God Christ, 
"his being anointed?" Everything anointed had con- 
verted to it the peculiar quality meant to be described 
by chrestos, of good, holy, sacred. To make the stone 
of Jacob holy and sacred it was anointed. To instal a 
prophet into his office he was anointed. To render kings 
sacred they were anointed ; and from this came the idea 
that Christ had his name from being anointed. And yet 
he was neither crowned nor anointed in a literal sense. 
But in a metaphorical sense, not only Christ, but Chris- 
tians also, as Theophilus of Antioch says, were " anointed 
with the oil of God," and Theophilus says he bore the 
name " hoping to be serviceable, {euchrestos.)" Not only 
is the suspicion just that in Justin e has been changed 
to i, but it is impossible for an impartial critic not to see 
that the text has been corrupted. And if in Justin, why 
not in all the rest of the early Christian literature ? The 
Latin priests, through whom the manuscripts have come 
down to us, would have the strongest motive to change 
the e to i, because in their time Ghrestos had become 
obsolete and Ghristos the popular name. 

The name Christian was first given as a term of re- 
proach, and was so regarded by the Fathers down to the 
close of the 2d century. Hence the successive " Apolo- 



CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 79 

gies " written by them, in which they pun upon the words 
Chrestos and Christos with a cunning endeavor to render 
the latter respectable. The term Christian occurs only 
three times in the New Testament, viz., in Acts xi, 26 ; 
xxvi, 28 ; and 1 Pet., iv, 16. The book of Acts cannot be 
traced prior to about a. d. 190, and the 1st Epistle of Peter 
was probably written in the 2d century. The expression 
*' suffer as a Christian " has a late look, and it is doubtful 
whether the term Christian was known till near the mid- 
dle of the 2d century. The Pauline Epistles were written, 
as all critics agree, many years after the disciples were said 
to have been called Christians at Antioch, and yet Paul 
never uses the word, though he was a preacher at Antioch 
as late as seventeen years after his conversion, (Gal. ii, 
11,) and according to the story of Acts continued a long 
time at that city, making it his headquarters. Paul's 
Epistles were brought to Rome by Marcion about a. d. 
140, after which time the name Christian was probably 
given, but reluctantly accepted. Bdt when the doctrine 
of Paul was grafted into the Gospel of Jesus by the Ro- 
man converts, the Christos (or Chrestos) of Paul became 
the Ghristus (or Ghrestas) of the Latins, and as the Jew- 
ish Septuagint had Christos, and the new superstition was 
based mainly on Judaism and Old Testament prophecies, 
the name Christus prevailed over Chrestus, and at length 
the term Christian became popular, and in the 3d century 
it was generally adopted. 

Having seen how Justin's writings have been corrupted, 
let us see how it is with regard to the New Testament. 

In 1 Pet., ii, 3, we read, " If so be ye have tasted that 
the Lord is gracious {chrestos. y Some manuscripts have 
christos, an evident corruption. In the Douay Bible chres- 
tos is correctly translated " sweet." The passage is evi- 
dently taken from Ps. xxxiv, 8, which reads, " O taste and 



80 CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 

see that the Lord is good " — chrestos in the Septuagint. 
Clement of Alexandria has this singular passage : 

" But are ye so devoid of fear, or rather of faith, as not to believe 
the Lord himself, or Paul, (!) who in Christ's stead thus entreats : 
' Taste and see that Christ is God ? '" (Ex. to Hea., ch. 9.) 

The translator in a note to the same refers to Ps. xxxiv, 
8, where he says Clement has read C/iristos for chrestos. 
Again, in quoting 1 Pet., ii, 3, he reads Ohristos for 
chrestos. (Instr., B. i, ch. 6.) 

In Rom. xvi, 18, the word chrestologia is translated 
"good words." Dr. John Jones, author of "Ben David," 
says that the meaning is, " oracles concerning Chrestos, 
that is, oracles which certain impostors (?) in the ' Church 
at Rome ' propagated concerning Christ, Christos being 
changed (?) by them into Chrestos, the usual name given 
by the Gnostics, and even by unbeliever sT 

Again, Dr. Jones maintains that Paul has an obvious 
reference to the above interpretation of Christos when he 
says, in Phil, i, 21, " For me to live is Christ, and to die 
is gain," the parallelism requiring Christos, in the sense 
of chrestos, to correspond to kerdos, "gain." (Ben David, 
p. 278-9.) 

Yes, not only does the sense require it, but chrestos is 
a various reading, as attested by Orthodox critics. 

Mr. Higgins, to whom we are indebted for much of the 
matter contained in this chapter, gives great weight to the 
proofs advanced by Dr. Jones, and says : 

' ' The doctor has shown most clearly that not onty the Gentiles 
commonly called Christ Chrestos, but that the Gnostic Christians, 
as I believe it is admitted, beyond all comparison, the most numer- 
ous sect of Christians, (because many sects are comprised in the 
term Gnostic,) as well as the most learned and respectable, called 
him Chrestos. The important fact that Christ was first called Chres- 
tos, and the Christians Chrestianoi, was as nearly lost as possible. 
The accidental discovery of an inscription [already noticed] given 



CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 81 

by Dr. Clarke in his travels, alone saved it It is also quite clear 

that he was so called by St. Peter and St. Paul, and surely this will 
not be disputed. 

*'In the Christology of St. Paul and Justin Martyr we have the 
esoteric religion of the Vatican, a refined Gnosticism for the cardi- 
nals, a more gross one for the people. It seems very extraordinary 
that when Lardner was noticing the Chrestus of Suetonius he should 
pass over the most important fact — that Jesus was commonly known 
by the name of Chrestos among that sect of Christians which was 
by far the most numerous and learned in the world. There never 
was bom a more cunning man than Lardner, nor one who knew 
better when to speak and when to be silent. In this instance he 
seems to have followed the example of Eusebius when in his life of 
Constantine he concealed the murder of his son, Crispus, I cannot 
believe that Lardner was ignorant that the Christians were called 

Ghrestianoi In his pretended surprise that Suetonius should call 

Jesus Chrestus, he betrays the grossest disingenuousness. It is 
impossible that this learned man can have been ignorant of it. But 
he found that if he noticed it, even to endeavor to refute it, he 
would bring into observation what was as good as lost, and what it 
was very desirable to keep out of sight. " 

Summing up the evidence, it must be confessed that it 
strongly preponderates in favor of Chrestos as the earliest 
name of Christ. The Sibylline Chreistos reaches back 
beyond Cicero and Varro, and was probably known sev- 
eral centuries b. c, while Chrestos is found inscribed on 
Greek monuments before the Christian era. But on the 
other hand, Christos, " the anointed one," is of frequent 
use in the Septuagint 200 years b. c Chrestos neverthe- 
less seems to have prevailed down to the close of the 
2d century, after which Christos, or the Latin Christus, 
gradually supplanted Chrestos. To the latter the Pagan 
converts would be prone to adhere, but the influence of 
the Septuagint, though the Jewish converts were very in- 
significant in number, turned the scale in favor of Christos, 
and all the manuscripts were made to conform thereto. 

Dear, devout, and sincere Christian, Antichrist has no 



82 CHRISTIANS FIRST CALLED CHRESTIANS. 

pleasure in shocking you by taking away your Jesus. 
But the name was familiar and precious to both heathen 
and Hebrew devotees centuries before the alleged nativity 
at Bethlehem. To the pious Jew it was Jehoshua or 
Joshua, meaning "help of Jehovah" or "Savior." To 
him whose Bible was the Septuagint it was lesous — le 
being an exclamation of joy, and soos or sos meaning 
"safe." So in Matt, i, 21, the inchoate Son of God is 
named lesous, because "he shall save {sosei) his people 
from their sins," and in Acts vii, 45, and Heb. iv, 8? 
lesous is the Greek for Joshua, the son of Nun. 

So the ancient Greek Sibyls heralded the name of 
lesous Chreistos, the benignant Savior, or new incarna- 
tion of Bacchus, or Buddha, or Divine Wisdom, the first 
born of God, the Theous Uios, Soter, and proclaimed in 
advance almost every particular afterwards embodied in 
the story of the Gospels. 



CHAPTER XVni. 

THE SIBYLLINE OKACLES. 

That part of the foregoing chapter relating to the Si. 
bylline Oracles having been reviewed by a correspondent 
of the Investigator, we here present such points of the 
criticism as we have deemed it necessary to reply to, giv- 
ing as far as practicable the writer's own words, as follows : 

Dr. Lardner, one of the highest Christian authorities 
of the last century, maintains that the Oracles used by 
the Christians were forgeries ; and he agrees with Prideaux 
in fixing their date between a. d. 138 and 167. Cave, 
however, supposes that a la,rge part of them were com- 
posed between a. d. 117 and 139. The Acrostic in par- 
ticular Dr. Lardner suspects to have been a late addition, 



THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES. 83 

it being first quoted by Constantine, and nowhere clearly 
referred to by any prior Father. Justin is the first Chris- 
tian writer who appears to have quoted any Sibylline 
verses containing the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 
the Fathers prior to him having mentioned nothing but 
what might be found in Sibylline writings among the 
lieathen. 

Cicero may have commented on a Pagan prophetic 
Acrostic, but not on the one quoted by Constantine, and 
it is on the authority of the liar Eusebius only that " Anti- 
christ " can assume that Cicero knew this Acrostic. 

Dionysius and Yarro spoke of " the Acrostics;" there 
is no evidence that they referred to this one. 

" Antichrist " therefore is rash in saying that Justin 
doubtless had reference to, this Acrostic, and that the an- 
tiquity of the Oracles is as certain as that of any New 
Testament writings. 

The Pagan Celsus, who wrote before the end of the 
2d century, charged the Christians with interpolating in 
the Sibyl's writings many blasphemous things ; and Ori- 
gen's answer to the charge is allowed by many learned 
men to be insufficient. 

Dr. Lardner says that the ancient Sibylline verses did 
not recommend the worship of the one God alone, as do 
those cited by the Fathers. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
CHKEISTOS IN THE ACEOSTIC. 

It is a humiliating alternative to which Dr. Lardner 
and other Christian apologists have been driven, of ad- 
mitting that the Sibylline acrostic was either a Pagan 
prophecy of Christ or a Christian forgery ! Antichrist 



84 CHREISTOS IN THE ACROSTIC. 

is willing to see them impaled on either horn of the 
dilemma. 

" Critic " thinks that Antichrist was " rash in saying, 
'Doubtless Justin had reference to the acrostic' " The 
language of Justin is as follows : 

" The most ancient and time-honored Sibyl, whose Books are 

preserved in all the world, clearly and m/inifestly prophesies 

concerning the predicted advent of our Savior Jesus Christ, and 
concerning all those things that were to he done by him^ (Ad. Gr., 
eh. 38.) 

Now those clear and manifest prophecies are found 
only in the 8th Book, which contains the acrostic, and 
in the 1st Book, "which without doubt is later than 
Justin, and is in part made up from this very 8th Book." 
So says the learned author of " Oracula Sibyllina," (C. 
Alexandre, Paris, 1856,) who believes the Book in question 
was written between a. d. 98 and 138, and does not doubt 
that Justin referred to the same. Dr. Lardner and others 
want to fix. the date of all the Sibylline Books after a. d. 
117. This author is willing to carry back the 8th Book 
to the year 98, but no further. Why? Because he thinks 
he finds references in it to John's Gospel, and John, you 
know, wrote before 98 ! Aha ! here is a discovery of a 
trace of John a few years earlier than has heretofore 
been found. But Antichrist has scrutinized it, and finds 
it as worthless as any of the rest of the supposed refer- 
ences to John's Gospel prior to a. d. 180. There is no 
resemblance in words, only in idea ; but even if the Sibyl's 
words were exactly those of John, who knows that the 
latter did not borrow them from the former ? 

Who, therefore, can estop us from going back to Cicero 
and Varro for the origin of the acrostic ? True, Cicero 
did not cite the words of the prophecy, but what need 
was there of reciting what was well known to those he 
was addressing ? And the same question may be asked 



CHREISTOS IN THE ACROSTIC. 85 

as to all who referred eith-er to the acrostic Or the proph- 
ecy in early times. 

Is it true that none of the Fathers prior to Eusebius 
did refer to it, or that it was added after the 2d century 1 
How came Tertullian (a. d. 200) to write the following : 

"But we little fishes, (piscicuU,) after the example of [our] 
loHTHUS, [Jesus Christ,] are born in water." (On Baptism, ch. 1.) 

The translator, Rev. S. Thewall, of Christ's College, 
evidently does not agree with Lardner that the acrostic 
was of later date than Tertullian, for he says in a note : 

" The word Ichthus in Greek means a fish ; and it was used as a 
name of our Lord Jesus because the initials of the words lesoiu 
{Jhristos Theou TJios Soter make up that word." 

Again, how came Ireneus (a. d. 190) to write the fol- 
lowing : 

' ' The name Christ the Son ( Uios Ghreistos) comprises twelve let- 
ters Moreover, Chreistus, he [Marcus] says, being a word of 

eight letters, indicates the first Ogdoad." (Agt. Heresies, B. i, 
ch. 15.) 

The Ch in Greek is one letter, so that Ghreistos makes 
eight. Ireneus wrote in Greek, but we have only a Latin 
version of his writings, except the greater part of this 1st 
Book, which is in Greek as well as Latin. The heretics 
against whom he was writing had a Ghreistos. Whence 
was that spelling of the name derived but from the Sibyl- 
line acrostic? 

Hippolytus also, a disciple of Ireneus, in his " Refuta- 
tion of All Heresies," (B. vi, ch. 44,) discusses this Ogdoad 
of Marcus — the eight letters of the name Ghreistos. 

But there is still another Father prior to Eusebius — 
that is, he was born, died, and probably wrote a few years 
previous — who quotes the very lines of the acrostic. True, 
he does not mention it as such, but he repeats verbatim 
in Greek the 25th and 26th lines, as well as other parts 



86 CHREISTOS IN THE ACROSTIC 

of the same Book, (Div. Inst., vii, 20, Orac. Sib. Ex. v. 
Cap. 5.) Lactantius is called the Christian Cicero, but 
he lacked the skepticism of his heathen prototype in 
regard to the inspiration of the Sib^l. 

It is also a significant fact that Augustine, a later 
Father, reproduces the acrostic without the last seven 
lines, containing the Stauros, (stake or cross.) The author 
of " Oracula Sibyllina " believes the last seven lines are a 
later addition, giving as one reason, that the initial 8 of 
Stauros would make one s too many in Ichthus. Augus- 
tine was probably of the same opinion, for like his pre- 
decessor Tertullian, he wanted to preserve the "fish," 
{Ichthus,) which he said represented the purity of Jesus 
Christ. 

So, then, if the acrostic was a Christian forgery it must 
have been a very early one, and Antichrist sees no diffi- 
culty in dating it long before the year one. The germ of 
Christianity existed then, as attested by several of the 
Fathers. The name of the expected Savior, lesous Chreis- 
tos or Chrestos, was familiar to Pagan devotees. The 
vital point in regard to the acrostic is. How came Chreis- 
tos to have the e in it *? Believers in Christos, the 
" anointed," would not have inserted the e ; but Pagans, 
on the contrary, would not have spelt it Christos. It 
was Judaism that changed Chreistos or Chrestos to 
Christos. 

Origen's answer to the charge of Celsus that the Chris- 
tians had " interpolated many impious statements " in 
the Sibylline Oracles, is lame enough, to wit. that Celsus 
" might have proved his assertion by producing some 
older copies which are free from the interpolations which 
he attributes to us." (B. vii, ch. 56.) The Christians in- 
terpolated their own Scriptures as well, and even forged 
whole books. Most of the earlier books are lost, and 



CHREISTOS IN THE ACROSTIC. 87 

among them one entitled " Exposition of the Lord's Ora- 
cles," and another book of " Oracles," said to have been 
written by Matthew in Hebrew. Our Matthew is claimed 
by many excellent critics to be an original Greek Gospel, 
and it is by no means certain that there ever was a Gos- 
pel written in Hebrew. Why, therefore, is it not possible, 
nay, even probable, that the Oracles of the Sibyl were the 
groundwork of our Gospels ? 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE SIBYLLINE OKACLES AGAIN. 

From a rejoinder of considerable length to our reply to 
" Critic," we herewith submit the essential points. 

" Critic" is surprised that "Antichrist " still holds that 
Cicero probably referred to the now extant Acrostic, when 
he not only did not cite the words of the prophecy, but 
did not name or allude to it. 

Justin does not name any particular book when he says 
that the Sibyl " clearly and manifestly prophesies," &c.; 
and it is not true, as " Antichrist " says, that those clear 
and manifest prophecies are found only in the 8th book. 
But even if it were true, does that prove that the Acrostic 
now found in the 8th book is what Justin refers to % There 
are abundant predictions in that book not found in the 
Acrostic. 

"Antichrist" admits that such prophecies are contained 
in the 1st book also, and it suits his argument to say that 
that is later, and is in part made up from the 8th book. 
How does he know that the 8th book is not made up from 
the 1st? 



88 THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES AGAIN. 

But there is enough in the 6th book to sustain Justin's 
assertion ; therefore " Critic " repeats that " Antichrist " 
is rash in assuming that Justin quoted the 8th book. 

The authenticity of the citation by Justin is doubtful. 
The book in which it occurs is suspected not to have been 
written by Justin. 

TertuUian's calling Jesus Christ " our Ichthus " is no 
evidence of the existence of the Acrostic in his time, (a. d. 
200.) He does not say that the initial words, lesous Chris- 
tos Theou TJios Soter, as applied to Jesus, suggested the 
epithet Ichthus. The translator Thewall, in assuming that 
they did so apply, uses the word Christos, which " Anti- 
christ " says is ridiculous. Ichthus was probably applied 
by Tertullian, because, as Augustine says, the fish sug- 
gested the idea of purity. 

" Critic" is astonished at "Antichrist's" setting forth 
as evidence that Ch^^estos was an epithet applied to Je- 
sus long before the Christian era, the fact that the word 
Chrestos has been found engraved on Greek monuments 
erected before the Christian era, not as the name of the 
person entombed — apparently implying that the deceased 
was a follower of Jesus, who was called Ohrestos. 

Those who believe that these predictions of the Sibyl 
were made before the events occurred, may also believe 
in the materialization of Katie King. 

Lardner's translation of Lucian is probably more cor- 
rect, to wit : " For chrestus (good) has been among the 
nations ; " or, " provided there is any good man among 
the nations." 

But many learned critics are convinced that Lucian did 
not write the " Philopatris," and assign it to a later date, 
variously from a. d. 261 to 361. One strong reason for 
rejecting its authenticity is its discussion of the Trinity 
in the style it does. Infidels and Christians agree that 



THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES AGAIN. 89 

the question of the Trinity was not discussed until the 
4th century, and there is not, as Gibbon says, any evi- 
dence that it was thought of till then. Lardner says the 
discussion of it in the " Philopatris " is more suitable to 
the 4th century. 

The belief that the fable of " Christna," wherein it re- 
sembles that of Jesus, is older than the Christian era was 
long since abandoned by " Critic." That fable is not 
the root or stem of Christianity. The spelling is not 
Christna, but Krishna, and its meaning is "blact." He 
was the eighth, not the ninth avatir of Vishnu — a double 
incarnation. Buddha was the ninth. 

We must depend on those who have studied the ancient 
languages and literature of the Hindoos. They tell us 
that the incidents in the life of Krishna which resemble 
those of Jesus are found only in the more modern books, 
the Puranas, which were written not earlier than the 9th 
century. 

Max Miiller says the author of the " Bible in India " 
has been deceived by his native teachers ; and Prof. Fiske 
says the book is a disgraceful piece of charlatanism. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
A TILT ACKOSS THE ACEOSTIC. 
What Antichrist said, following the citation from Jus- 
tin, was this: 

" Now those clear and manifest prophecies are found only in the 
8th Book, which contains the Acrostic, and in the IstBook, 'which 
without doubt is later than Justin, and is in [great] part made up 
from this very 8th Book. ' So says the learned author of ' Oracula 
Sibyllina.' " 

Quoting only the first two lines above, and not noticing 



90 A TILT ACROSS THE ACROSTIC. 

the italicised ^^ and'' immediately following, "Critic" says 
the statement is not true. Of course not. Charcoal and 
nitre do not make gunpowder; it takes charcoal, nitre, 
and sulphur. 

"Critic" then adds: "Antichrist admits that such 
prophecies are in the 1st Book also ; and it suits his argu- 
ment to say that that is later, and is in part made up from 
this very 8th Book." Again our friend seems to have 
been blind to our quotation marks, followed by the state- 
ment, " So says the learned author of ' Oracula Sibyllina.' " 
That author is a Professor in the Institute of France, and 
his is a standard work, one of the latest and best. He 
gives reasons why the 1st Book is made up from the 8th, 
and is later than Justin. The entire statement of Anti- 
christ is taken from that author, who writes as a Christian. 
The issue, therefore, which " Critic " raises is with him. 

Furthermore, Prof. Alexandre gives reasons for believ- 
ing that the Acrostic was written between the time of 
Domitian and Adrian, (a. d. 96-117,) and the rest of the 
8th Book following somewhat later — ^. 6., between 98 and 
138. How much of the New Testament appeared prior 
to 117 % Not half, according to Dr. Davidson, and not 
one of our four Gospels, as we shall show hereafter. How 
many Fathers wrote before that time? Possibly one, 
Clement of Kome, whose Epistle, not certainly authentic, 
would fill only eleven leaded columns of the Investigator^ 
(36 pages of this book.) Between Clement and Justin 
comes the spurious Epistle of Barnabas, shorter than that 
of Clement, and this is all for certain. What wonder, 
therefore, that the Sibylline prophecies were not quoted 
prior to Justin, even though they had existed for 500 
years % 

But, says our learned friend, the citation from Justin 
is suspected to be unauthentic. True ; but that does not 



A TILT ACROSS THE ACROSTIC. 91 

alter the fact that it was a very early, perhaps the earliest, 
appeal to those prophecies by the Fathers. Justin, how- 
ever, in his undoubtedly genuine " Apology," (ch. xx,) 
does say this: "The Sibyl .... said there should be a 
dissolution by God of all things corruptible " — the very 
theme of the Acrostic and what follows in the 8th Book. 

The 6th Book of the Sibyl contains only 28 lines, the 
substance of which relating to Christ " Critic " has cited. 
The author of " Oracula " dates that book in the 3d cen- 
tury. The 8th Book contains 501 lines, about half of 
which relates to Christ, and is dated by the same author 
prior to Justin. 

This work of Prof. Alexandre contains nearly 1,100 
pages, small print, all in Greek and Latin, which make 
dry reading even of a fishy subject. 

And speaking of fish, the same work exhibits another 
ancient Acrostic with a fish in it, also a Savior and Gali- 
leans ; but the fish is most conspicuous, being invoked as 
a " Divinity," and forming part of the fii'st letters of the 
lines of the Acrostic, which are, Ichthus eis aie, "Fish 
forever." It is an epitaph on stone, and the author dates 
it about the middle of the 4th century, assigning as one 
reason the alleged fact that about that time, under the 
Emperor Julian, the term Galilean was most in use as ap- 
plied to the Christians. Perhaps so, but the real Galileans 
caused most commotion in the 1st century, and by the 4th 
were pretty much played out. The epitaph, however, may 
be a Christian one, though it would answer as well for a 
Pagan, especially as the only word in it supposed to 
answer to Christos is bereft of all but the first letter, and 
follows "fish." It may, therefore, have been Ichthu 
Gh[reste,'] " Sweet Fish." 

And speaking of Christos, Antichrist by no means thinks 
it "ridiculous." Coupled with lesous and meaning " the 



92 A TILT ACEOSS THE ACROSTIC. 

anointed," it is not bad, but Chrestos, " good," is better. 
" Mr. Greasy " would be ridiculous. 

That some of the now extant Oracles existed before the 
year one is believed by the authors of " Oracula " and of 
*' Anacalypsis," and the latter suspects that " Jesus was 
also called Christ from this very Oracle." (Vol. ii, p. 
576.) So if Antichrist is rash, he is not rasher than 
they. 

If Cicero did not allude to the Sibylline prophecy, nay, 
€ven to this very Acrostic, to what did he allude ? His 
language is, " But that the}^ [the verses] proceed not from 
fury and prophetic rage, but rather from art and contriv- 
ance, doth no less appear otherwise than from the Acros- 
tic in them." (De Div., lib. ii.) Cicero died 43 b. c, and 
the Acrostic we now have was in existence according to 
Prof. Alexandre, between a. d. 96 and 117. Is it proba- 
ble that the Acrostic referred to by Cicero was entirely 
lost 150 years after his death and a new one forged by 
Christians ? 

Antichrist has not said that the " predictions of the 
Sibyl were made before the events occurred," but he sus- 
pects that the Gospel fictions were made to conform to 
the Sibylline prophecies, just as they are claimed to accord 
with pretended Jewish ones. Josephus wrote a para- 
graph about John the Baptist, which the Sibyls and the 
Evangelists wove into their works, with variations. 

" Critic's " astonishment at the adduction of the word 
Chrestos engraved on Greek monuments before the Chris- 
tian era as an " epithet applied to Jesus," will no doubt 
subside when our friend sees that Antichrist has said 
nothing of the kind. The particular monument adduced 
has Chrestos and a bleeding heart at the top, and Eros 
(Cupid) at the bottom ; and the intervening inscription is 
in honor of a youth of Larissa, in Pelasgian Thessaly, 



A TILT ACEOSS THE ACROSTIC. 93 

(Pelasgiotes.) Now the Pelasgians were a prehistoric 
people, from whom Herodotus says the Hellenic Greeks 
sprang. This monument, therefore, was no doubt prior 
to the Jewish Septuagint, and perhaps almost as old as 
Homer or Solomon. At all events it is not ^t all likely 
that the youth to whose memory that sacred word Chres- 
tos was inscribed, ever heard of the Jews' lesous. 

Antichrist referred to the " Bible in India " only for 
the statement that Christna was the 9th incarnation of 
Vishnu, (some call it the 8th,) and that he was also called 
Jezeus. All books relating to the ancient religions of the 
Hindoos should be regarded with caution, because very 
little is known on the subject. But we could no more 
expect Max Miiller or Prof. Fiske to speak well of the 
" Bible in India," than of Taylor's " Diegesis " or Paine's 
"Age of Eeason." Kadical research is apt to spoil kid 
gloves, and college professors don't like to mar their 
pretty, soft hands. 

But oh ! Christna is a very wrong spelling ; it should 
be Krishna! What a pity Sir William Jones set the bad 
example of spelling it with a Ch ! * Infidels have taken 
undue advantage of his error. Well, then, spell it with 
a K, and substitute an h for the t. Is not Krishna as much 
like Kristos or Krist as Jehoshua or Joshua is like lesous 
or Jesus ? 

It will be a hard task to prove that the stories about 
the God Christna were invented only a thousand years 
ago. They may not be the root or stem of Christianity, 
but only older branches of the same tree. And as for the 
meaning of Chrishna, " black," it is well known that the 
Christian Savior is represented in the most ancient sculp- 
tures and paintings as blacker than a Hindoo, yea, even 
as black as an Ethiopian. So even if "Critic" holds 



94 A TILT ACEOSS THE ACKOSTIC. 

"high low," Antichkist expects to make game and save 
bis Jack.* 

If the " Philopatris," long attributed to Lucian, is a 
later work, as many critics believe, it only brings the evi- 
dence in regard to Christos later ; for the rendering of 
Lardner, making an adjective a common noun instead of 
a proper name of a Divinity, is ungrammatical and absurd. 
"Christian evidence writers," says Robert Taylor, "have 
in general been tinctured with Unitarianism," and there- 
fore they seek to disguise the fact " that the doctrine of 
the Trinity was really the earliest and purest form of 
Christianity." 

It is not true that " the question of the Trinity was not 
discussed until the 4th century." Novatian wrote a book 
"Concerning the Trinity" about a. d. 260. Origen (a. d. 



* Madame Blavatsky, in a letter to the New York Bun of May 13, 
1877, takes a bold stand in defence of JacoUiot's "Bible in India." 
The Editor of the Sun having asserted that there "never was a 
Hindoo reformer named Jezeus Christna," Madame B. declares: 

"I have been at the festivals of Janmotsar in commemoration of 
the birth of Christna, (which is their Christmas,) and have heard 
thousands of voices shouting : ' Jas-i-Christna ! Jasas-wi-Christna !' 
Translated they are : Jas-i — renowned, famous ; and Jasas-wi — 
celebrated, or divinely renov/ned, powerfvil ; and (Jhris-tna, sacred." 

Madame B. maintains the correctness of the spelling Christna, as 
against Krishna. She says the latter spelling is adopted by Jacol- 
liot's most bitter opponent, Mons. Taxtor de Eavisi, a Catholic, be- 
cause Krislina means black, and because the real name of Christna 
" was Kaneya or Caneya." But black is KHsn, and Caneya means 
born of a virgin — Canya. Even in modern Hindustanee the zodia- 
cal sign of Virgo is called Kaniya. 

Jaeolliot is therefore right not only as regards Christna, but sub- 
i^;tantially so as regards Jezeus. ]3?here is no more reason for spell- 
ing the first with a K than for spelling Christ with a K . The Greek 
letter Ch differs from K by being more guttural and aspirated, and 
is almost equivalent to H in English, so that Ohristos might more 
correctly be rendered by H'ristos. 

Jaeolliot is no a fraud. Ten years' residence and studies in India 
were surely enough to fit him to give an opinion ; and even his 
Catholic opjjonent admits that his "Bible in India" is written 
"with good faith, of absorbing interest, a learned work on known 
facts, and with familiar arguments." 



A TILT ACROSS THE ACROSTIC. 95 

230) discusses the subject of " the excellent Trinity " at 
length. (De Prin., i, 3 ; iv, 1.) Hippolytus, writing against 
the heresy of Noetus, (a. d. 222,) argues the question vigor- 
ously, and boasts of confuting his adversary. (Sec. 8-14.) 
Ireneus, still earlier, and the master of Hippolytus, dis- 
cusses the equality of the Son with the Father, and the 
gifts of the Holy Spirit. (Agt. Heres., iii, 6 ; v, 8, 22.) 

And now to lay out Lardner, who asserts that the 
ancient Sibylline verses did not commend the worship of 
the one God, as those do which are cited by Clement of 
Alexandria and the earliest Fathers, let Clement take the 
stand. In his " Miscellanies," (vi, 5,) he quotes the A2:)os- 
tle Paul as saying, " Take also the Hellenic books, read 
the Sibyl, how it is shown that God is one." Now let the 
materialized ghost of Lardner appear and say that the 
Sibylline Oracles which Paul appealed to were a " Chris- 
tian forgery.'" 

Dr. Lardner' s lamp has lighted the dark caverns of 
primitive Christianity, but since his time whale oil has 
been superseded by coal oil ; and now in these last days 
the electric light of Antichrist shines forth from the 
columns of the Investigator, that it might be fulfilled 
which was spoken by the prophet Esaias, (ix, 1, 2, Sep- 
tuagint,) " O land of Zabulon, (Uncle Sam,) land of 
Nephthalim, (John Bull,) and the rest of the sea-coast, 
and beyond Jordan, (British Channel,) Galilee of the 
Gentiles, (Europe.) O people walking in darkness, be- 
hold a great light." 



CHAPTER XXn. 

WHEN WAS THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITTEN? 

Okthodox Christianity is indebted to the Rev. Nathaniel 
Lardner, D. D., a distinguished Unitarian-Presbyterian, 
who died in 1768, for its generally accepted chronological 
table of the times of writing the Books of the New Testa- 
ment. Dr. Lardner's dates were all fixed so as to leave the 
question of authenticity undisturbed. But more recent 
independent investigation has assigned later periods to 
most of the Books, as appears from the table below^, gath- 
ered from a recent work entitled " Introduction to the New 
Testament," by Samuel Davidson, D. D. Being a Christian 
Professor in a University, of course Dr. Davidson seeks 
to maintain the integrity of as much of the New Testa- 
ment as possible, and to assign as early a date as he con- 
scientiously can to the various compositions. But more 
free and unbiassed critics have proven that the four Gos- 
pels, Acts, and some of the other Books, made their first 
appearance considerably later than the times assigned by 
this author ; and in a recent anonymous English work, 
entitled " Supernatural Religion," which in the short space 
of a few months has reached the sixth edition, it is dem- 
onstrated that no certain trace exists of one of the four 
Gospels prior to the year 180. 

Davidson. Lardner. 

2 Tliessalonians a. d. 52 52 

1 Thessalonians 

1 Corinthians 

2 Corinthians 

Galatians 

Romans 

Philemon 

Colossians 

Philippians 

Hebrews '. 

96 



53 52 

57 56 

57 57 
57-8 52-^3 

58 58 
62 62 
62 62 

62-3 62 

66 63 



WHEN WAS THE NEW TESTAMENT WBITTEN ? 97 

Davidson. Lardner. 

Revelations a. d. 68-9 95-6 

James " 68-70 61-2 

Ephcsians " 75 61 

1 Peter " 75-80 U 

Jude " 80 64-5 

Matthew " 118-19 64 

Luke " 119-120 63 

Mark " 120 64 

Acts " 125 63-4 

Titus '' 120-40 56 

2 Timothy " 120-40 61 

1 Timothy " 120-40 56 

1 John " 130 80 

2 and 3 John " 130 80-90 

John, Gospel " 150 68 

2 Peter " 170 64 

The difference of dates as to the first ten Books in the 
above table is trifling. The composition of Kevelation is 
moved back seventeen years, and fixed with tolerable cer- 
tainty a year or two before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
James and Ephesians, Dr. Davidson thinks, were written 
after the death of their reputed authors. In regard to all 
the rest of the Books, the dates respectively assigned pre- 
clude their authenticity. The Epistles to Titus and Tim- 
othy, he thinks, were written in the order given above, in 
the first half of the second century, at very brief intervals 
apart, and they point to a time prior to a. d. 150, and 
probably to about a. d. 120. 

Dr. Davidson almost questions the authenticity of 1 
and 2 Thessalonians, but accepts that of the next seven 
Pauline Epistles, and, strange to say, regards Revelation 
as written by the fisherman John. The Epistle to the 
Hebrews is anonymous, and probably not written by 
Paul. All the rest of the New Testament he rejects as 
spurious, but, like a true Christian apologist, throws the 
mantle of charity over the " innocent " forgery of Apos- 
tolic names to accomplish a good end. O Christianity ! 
what falsehoods are justified in thy name ! 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FIRST USE OF THE TERM "CHRISTIAN." 

That the disciples were first called Christians at Anti- 
och, a heathen city, about a. d. 43, rests upon the sole 
authority of the Book of Acts, which Dr. Davidson con- 
cedes was written as late as a. d. 125; but there is no 
positive evidence of its existence prior to the year 190. 
It is therefore of no value to prove the use of the word 
Christian before the middle of the second century. And 
the same may be said of 1 Peter, the only other Book of 
the New Testament in which the word Christian is found; 
for Dr. Davidson, seeking to assign it to as early a period 
as he can, expressly says, " The date of the Letter cannot 
be fixed. It was after the Epistle to the Ephesians ; it 
may therefore be between a. d. 75 and 80." Well, as the 
date cannot be fixed, and as some critics for cogent 
reasons assign it to the second century, who can forbid 
the acceptance of the later date ? The Epistle is conceded 
to be spurious, and the earliest trace of it is in the state- 
ment of Eusebius (iii, 39) that Papias, who wrote about 
A. D. 150, made use of it. But as Eusebius, who does not 
quote the passages from Papias, has been detected in 
numerous mistakes and falsifications, we must remain in 
doubt whether he did not assume, from some similarity 
of wording, that the passages were quotations, whilst in 
reality they might not be. The earliest apparent quota- 
tions from 1 Peter are found in the Epistle of Polycarp 
to the Philippians, written after a. d. 150, and probably 
after 161, besides being largely interpolated. (Sup. Eel.) 
But even if 1 Peter was written before 150, the expres- 
sion "suffer as a Christian," as we have heretofore re- 



riRST USE OF THE TEEM " CHRISTIAN." 99 

marked, aud as will presently more fully appear, has a. 
late look. 

The New Testament therefore affords no proof of the 
use of the term Christian before the middle of the second 
century, about which time we begin to find it (or more 
probably Chrestian) in the writings of Justin. 

Antichrist has made a diligent search for the word in 
all the writings of the Fathers which can, with any degree 
of probability, be claimed to antedate Justin, and has 
been unable to find it. It does not occur in either of the 
three following Books, which once formed a part of the 
New Testament canon : 

Epistle of Clement of Rome, 

Epistle of Barnabas, 

Pastor of Hermas. 

The first of these is still claimed to be authentic, though 
written anonymously, and its date is claimed to be about 
A. D. 97, and even earlier. But the more liberal critics 
lean to a later date, and bring it within the first quarter 
of the second century. The Epistle of Barnabas, once 
received as an authentic production of the companion of 
Paul, is now conceded to be spurious, and to have been 
w^ritten probably between a. d. 117 and 138. The Pastor 
of Hermas, one of the most popular books in the Church 
during the 2d, 3d, and 4th centuries, and believed to 
have been the production of the Hermas mentioned in 
Bom. xvi, 14, is now conceded to have been written prob- 
ably some time between a. d. 100 and 161. 

In Archbishop Wake's translation of Clement's Epistle 
the word Christian occurs once ; in the later English ver- 
sion of the Ante-Nicene Christian Library it occurs three 
times. What, think you, are the Greek words which the 
Reverend Prestidigitators have rendered "Christian?" 
They are en Christo and to Ohristo. 



100 FIRST USE OF THE TERM "CHRISTIAN." 

For ways that are dark 

And tricks that are vain 

The Christian is ever peculiar. 

Only one more writer remains whose claim of priority 
to Justin is confidently asserted — namely, Ignatius. The 
Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians is generally be- 
lieved to be later than Justin, but even if it should per- 
chance be prior, it does not affect the present inquiry, for 
the word Christian is not found in it. 

Ignatius was a historical character, and though as to 
his personal history almost nothing is known, he was 
doubtless a bishop of Antioch at the beginning of the 
second century. There are fifteen Epistles purporting to 
have been written by him, of which not more than seven 
are claimed to be genuine. Among the spurious ones is 
a letter addressed by him to the Virgin Mary, with her 
reply thereto. A venerable old Virgin she must have 
been ! somewhere between 90 and 140 years of age ! 

To the great embarrassment of those who maintain, 
with Eusebius, the genuineness of seven of the Ignatian 
Epistles, they come down to us in two forms, a longer 
and a shorter, and the question is, which is the oldest? 
The decision has been generally in favor of the shorter 
version. But so manifest are the interpolations in both, 
that Dr. Lardner and other Christian apologists before 
and since his time have been compelled to question the 
genuineness of even the shorter form, and many of them 
deny that we have any authentic remains of Ignatius at 
all. 

But to aggravate the embarrassment of the churchmen, 
in the year 1842 an ancient Syriac version of three of the 
Epistles in a still shorter form was brought to light. 
This left the question of genuineness or priority as awk- 
ward to decide as one like this, for instance : Which of 



FIEST USE OF THE TERM "CHRISTIAN." 101 

three switches, said to have been wielded by Jesus to 
drive out the board of brokers from the temple, is the 
genuine one ? 

The whole story purporting to have been written by 
Ignatius while a prisoner under a guard of ten soldiers, 
on his way from Antioch to Rome, in seven different Epis- 
tles, deliberately penned at successive stages of his jour- 
ney, by the kind permission of the " ten leopards," as he 
styles them, is absolutely incredible. But if this conclu- 
sion is not in itself irresistible, we will only repeat what 
has been stated heretofore, that it has been demonstrated 
that Ignatius was not sent to Rome at all, but was cast to 
wild beasts at Antioch, Dec. 20, a. d. 115, under circum- 
stances which preclude the idea of his being a martyr for 
Christianity. (Dav. Int. to N. T., vol. i, p. 19.) 

Nevertheless, lest it should be presumed that the Epis- 
tles may have been forged prior to Justin, we will state 
that the learned author of "Supernatural Religion," after 
an acute analysis of the evidence, internal and external, 
asserts that " none of the Epistles have any value as evi- 
dence for an earlier period than the end of the second or 
beginning of the third century." (Vol. i, p. 274.) 

The Syriac manuscript is by far the most ancient text, 
and it is conceded that not only the longer, but the shorter 
Greek forms have been largely interpolated. The whole 
contents of the Syriac Epistles make only 250 lines in 
English, and even if a fragment of these should perchance 
have been written by Ignatius, it is impossible to distin- 
guish what is authentic and what is spurious. Ireneus 
(a. d. 190) is the first to refer to any of them or to Igna- 
tius himself, and his quotations are found in the Syriac ' 
translation as well as in the Greek. Forty years later 
Origen quotes passages which are likewise found in the 
Syriac. The first occasion on which any passage attrib- 



102 FIRST USE OF THE TERM "CHRISTIAN." 

uted to Ignatius is quoted which is not in the Syriac ver- 
sion, is by Eusebius. (Sup. Rel., vol. i, p. 262.) 

Having, therefore, brought the Ignatian Epistles this 
side of the middle of the 2d century, they are outside of 
our present inquiry. But inasmuch as they are the only 
Christian writings containing the word Christian, which 
have any plausible if even possible claim of priority to 
Justin, we will bestow on them a cursory analysis. 

The word Christian occurs seven times in each of the 
two Greek forms of the seven Ignatian Epistles, while 
Christianity is found four times in the Shorter Greek, 
and only once in the Longer ! Twice, where the Shorter 
has the word Christian it is wanting in the Longer ; once 
the latter has it where the former has it not ; once it has 
the word Christ's instead ; and once it has Christian 
where the former has Christianity. In one of the Epis- 
tles neither word is found in either version ; in another 
it occurs once in the Shorter alone ; in another, while it 
occurs once in each version, the two words do not answer 
to each other at all. 

In the three Syriac Epistles Christian occurs twice and 
Christianity once. The two passages containing the word 
Christian agree almost verbatim in the three versions, but 
the other passage presents the following remarkable dis- 
crepancy : 

Syriac. Short Greek. Long Qreek. 

But Christianity is Christianity is not The Christian is 

great when the world a thing of silence not the result of per- 

hateth it. ( To the only, but also of suasion, but of pow- 

Rom., ch. iii.) greatness. (lb.) er. (lb.) 

These discrepancies alone show how just is the con- 
demnation of the whole Ignatian literature as a mass of 
falsification and fraud. Setting it aside, therefore, with 
the Book of Acts and Peter, as affording no evidence of 
the use of the word Christian prior to the middle of the 



FIKST USE OF THE TEEM "CHRISTIAN." 103 

2d century, we have the anomaly of the apparent growth 
of a rehgion for at least a century without the adoption 
of the most appropriate name. The followers of Jesus 
Christ would most certainly have been called after one or 
the other of his two names. But it seems that for more 
than a hundred years they accepted neither. Since the 
days of Constantine they have gloried everywhere in the 
name of Christian, which the Fathers of the 2d and 3d 
centuries seemed ashamed of, while the other appropriate 
name of Jesusites, or Jesuits, appears to have been re- 
served till the 16th century for the followers of Ignatius 
of Loyola. One Church historian, however, tries to trace 
even this name among the earliest disciples, but only 
succeeds, in our opinion, in finding it as applied to the 
Therapeuts before Jesus was said to be born. Here is 
what Bingham, in his "Antiquities of the Christian 
Church," (b. i, ch. 2,) says: 

"When Christianity was first planted in the world, they who 
embraced it were commonly known among themselves by the name 
of Disciples, Believers, Elect, Saints, and Brethren, before they 
assumed the title and appellation of Christians. Epiphanius says 
they were also called lessaioi, 'Jesseans,' either from Jesse, the 
father of David, or, which is more probable, the name of the Lord 
Jesus. He adds that Philo speaks of them under this appellation 
in his book peri lessaion, (about Jesseans,) whom he affirms to be 

no other but Christians who went by that name in Egypt This 

book of Philo's is now extant under another title, peri Biou Tlieo- 
retikou, of Contemplative Life ; and so it is called by Eusebius, who 
is also of opinion that it is nothing but a description of the Chris- 
tians in Egypt, whom he calls Therapeutse. " 

So if Bishop Epiphanius, who flourished at the close of 
the 4th century, is to be credited, Philo, a contemporary 
of the Gospel Jesus, wrote a book about Jesseans, which 
has come down to us under another title, and yet iden- 
tified by Eusebius as descriptive of the Therapeuts, who 
existed in Egypt long before the birth of the Christian's 



104 FIRST USE OF THE TERM "CHRISTIAN." 

Jesus. That is to say, the Therapeuts were called Jesse- 
ans by Philo, who knew no Jesus Christ, nor any follow- 
ers of such a person. 

Having failed to discover the word Christian in any 
Christian writing within the first hundred years or more 
after the reputed death of Christ, let us see if it can be 
found in pagan literature within that period. 

Sure enough, here it is in Suetonius, who wrote about 
A. D. 110. In his Life of Nero he speaks of Christians, 
"a villanous race," being punished. The same author, 
in his Life of Claudius, the predecessor of Nero, men- 
tions Chrestus as a leader of riots in Rome. There is 
just ground, therefore, for the suspicion that the Chris- 
tians to whom he refers in the later work were the follow- 
ers of Chrestus. But whether that be so or not, the fact 
remains that this is the earliest undoubtedly genuine evi- 
dence of the word Christian or Chrestian, and it is by a 
heathen writer. 

The letter of Pliny, pro-consul of Bithynia, which if 
genuine might possibly antedate Suetonius, has already 
been considered and rejected as spurious. Learned Ger- 
man critics long ago pronounced it a fraud. Without the 
light which they have cast upon the subject, and in addi- 
tion to the cogent reasons heretofore given for the rejec- 
tion of the document, the fact that in the space of forty 
consecutive lines the word Christian occurs seven times, 
is enough to stamp it with presumptive fraud. 

The mention of Christians barely once by Tacitus, 
about A. D. 117, will not be admitted by us as evidence 
after all that has been argued against the authenticity of 
the passage. If peradventure it be genuine, as Christians 
insist, it goes to identify them with a disorderly sect of 
fanatics, who, under the leadership of a Jew named 



FIRST USE OF THE TERM "CHRISTIAN." 105 

Chrestus, were expelled from Rome between a. d. 41 
and 54. 

One more Pagan document of later date than Suetonius, 
but earlier than Justin, contains the word Christian. It 
is an epistle of the Emperor Adrian, who reigned from 
A. D. 117 to 138, instructing his pro-consul Fundamus 
concerning the trials of Christians. The letter comes to 
us through Justin, being appended to his "First Apol- 
ogy," and followed by two letters from the two succeed- 
ing Emperors on the same subject. In Justin's copy of 
Adrian's epistle the word Christian occurs once. Euse- 
bius in copying Justin inserts it twice. In the next 
epistle, that of Antoninus Pius, (a. d. 138-161,) which is 
about twice as long as that of Adrian, the word Christian 
does not occur at all. But in the third letter, that of 
Aurelius, (a. d. 161-180,) it occurs eight times in thirty- 
one consecutive lines. This edict is believed by many 
to be a forgery, but even if not, the use of the word 
Christian became quite general in the reign of Aurelius, 
though it may well be doubted whether it was not Chres- 
tian rather than Christian. It is pretty certain that Jus- 
tin at the outset wrote Chrestian, and this, coupled with 
the mention of Chrestus by Suetonius, renders it proba- 
ble that in the epistle of Adrian, appended to Justin's 
Apology, the original word was Chrestian ; and it is quite 
likely that it was the same in the letter of Aurelius. 

The result of our research may therefore be summed 
up thus : 

The term Christian is first used by Suetonius about 
A. D. 110, but the original word was probably Chrestian. 

Its next occurrence is in the letter of Adrian, between 
A. D. 117 and 138, and there, also, it was probably Chres- 
tian. 

Then comes Justin, between a. d. 147 and 161, who at 



106 FIRST USE OF THE TEEM "CHRISTIAN." 

first most certainly, if not always, wrote the word Chres- 
tian. After that in the course of fifty years it became 
popular, the term Chrestian meanwhile giving way to the 
more appropriate one of Christian. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

IN PUKSUIT OF PETEE. 

That Paul knew no Apostle Peter has been proved 
beyond a reasonable doubt. The only mention of a Peter 
in his Epistles is in a parenthetic clause of a very long 
sentence, wherein Cephas also is named as one of three 
pillars of the Church at Jerusalem. (Gal. ii, 7-9.) The 
awkward lugging in of Peter in such a connection is sus- 
picious ; and as the post-Nicene scribes have been guilty 
of substituting Peter for Cephas three times elsewhere in 
the Epistle to the Galatians for the manifest purpose of 
connecting him with the traditional head of the Eomish 
Church, it is in the highest degree probable that some 
ante-Nicene ^Driest interpolated the superfluous and inco- 
herent clause in the same Epistle containing the name of 
Peter. 

Among the traditions recorded in the second century 
we read of one Simon Magus of Samaria, a magician, who 
wrought miracles in Palestine, and even at Rome, in the 
reign of Claudius, a. d. 41-54. Justin, himself also a 
Samaritan, in his " Apology " addressed to the reigning 
Emperor Antoninus Pius, about a. d. 150, three times 
refers to this Simon, saying he was worshipped as a God 
and honored by a statue in the imperial city, bearing the 
inscription — 



IN PUKSUIT OF PETER. 107 

Simoni Deo Sancto, 

" To Simon the holy God." 

The discovery in 1574 of a fragment of marble in the 
bed of the Tiber with the inscription — 

Semoni Sanco Deo, 

" To the God Semo Sancus," 
has induced the pretty general beHef that Justin made a 
most comical blunder in this matter. But that is not 
after all so very certain, even though the two inscriptions 
are not identical. The people had many gods in those 
days, and Semo Sancus was perhaps no greater man than 
Simon Magus. At all events, the story not only of the 
statue, but of the wonderful works of Simon of Samaria^ 
has been often repeated, enlarged, and embelHshed by 
later writers than Justin. 

But while Justin makes these particular and detailed 
references to Simon Magus, all he has to say about Simon 
Peter is, that Christ " changed the name of one of the 
Apostles to Peter." (Dial. Trypho, ch. 106.) Nor does 
Justin anywhere quote from a Petrine Epistle. The 
Gospel which he used is called by him " Memoirs of the 
Apostles," and some of the passages which he drew either 
from that Gospel or tradition, agree substantially with 
similar ones in our four Evangelists. In continuation of 
the above reference to Peter, Justin. says that Christ also 
'* changed the names of other two brothers, the sons of 
Zebidee, to Boanerges, which means sons of thunder;" 
but the only other mention made of an Apostle by name 
is in the following passage : 

"There was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one 
of the Apostles of Christ, who prophesied by a revelation that wa& 
made to him that those who believed in onr Christ would dwell a 
thousand years in Jerusalem ; and that thereafter the general, and 
in short the eternal, resurrection and judgment of all men would 
likewise take place." (lb., ch. 81.) 



108 IN PURSUIT OF PETER. 

The silence of so early a writer as Justin in regard to the 
Apostles is remarkable. If Peter had figured so promi- 
nently in Apostolic times, and had founded the Church 
at Rome, he certainly deserved more notice from Justin. 
It may be replied that Justin is also silent in regard to 
Paul, neither naming him nor quoting from his writings. 
True, but it is conceded by Ecclesiastical writers that the 
Pauline Epistles did not become a part of the Christian 
literature till after Justin's death. Furthermore, Mar- 
€ion, Justin's contemporary, had recently brought to 
Rome, probably for the first time, a collection of Paul's 
Epistles, and it is not strange that Justin, who regarded 
Marcion as a blasphemous heretic, instigated by devils 
" to preach another God besides the Creator," should have 
ignored or repudiated his collection of books, probably 
the first edition of the New Testament ever issued. 

There is a remarkable passage in the 1st Epistle of 

Peter, v, 13 : " The church at Babylon saluteth you." 

Churchmen would have us believe that the writer meant 
Babylon in a mystic sense, i. e., Rome. What a mystifi- 
cation ! If that Epistle is genuine, and was written as 
claimed, about a. d. 64, we must presume that Peter was 
then in Babylon, 2,000 miles from Rome. What a scholar 
the unlettered fisherman must have become, to be able to 
preach in Chaldee and Latin, and to write classical Greek ! 
Antichrist has no objection to the acceptance of a Baby- 
Ionian Peter as a historical person in the middle or sec- 
ond half of the 1st century. Babylon being distant 600 
miles in a straight line from Antioch and Jerusalem, it is 
not very likely that the Babylonian Peter crossed Paul's 
path. An overland journey of seven hundred miles in 
those days was a dangerous and costly undertaking ; and 
then for Peter to make a further voyage of fifteen hun- 
dred miles by sea to meet either Simon Magus or Paul 



IN PURSUIT OF PETER. 109 

at Kome is incredible. The Apostles journeyed without 
carpet-bag, overcoat, biscuit, or money, (Mark vi, 8, 9.) 
Did somebody pay Peter's fare, or did he work his pas- 
sage? He was but a sorry sailor at best, poorly fitted in 
his old age to go before the mast, and slaves were usually 
placed at th4 oar. A Babylonian or Galilean Peter the 
first Bishop of Eome ! Bah ! Let the Papists " tell that 
to marines ; sailors won't believe it." 

But it is the Gospel Peter we are in search of ; we are 
fishing for the fisherman in the pools of antiquity. If 
such a Peter existed we want to find some traces of his 
petrified remains. Our four Gospels and Acts can only 
be traced back to* the last half of the second century, 
which is rather too late to prove the existence of Peter a 
hundred years prior. The Epistle of Peter purports to 
come from Babylon, and affords no clue to an early date. 
Justin, who is rather late, barely mentions him. The 
writer of the Epistle of Barnabas, which is probably 
earlier than Justin, knows no Peter. The Pastor of Her- 
mas, which may be prior to Justin, mentions no Peter. 
The Epistle of Polycarp, a contemporary of Justin, names 
no Peter. Peter ! where art thou ? 

Ah ! here he is, in Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians, 
written some time between a. d. 68 and 125. In chap. 
V, this passage occurs : 

"Let us set before our eyes tlie illustrious Apostles. Peter, 
tlirough unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous 
labors ; and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed to 
the place of glory due to him. Owing to envy, Paul also obtained 
the reward of patient endurance, after being seven times thrown 
into captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned. After preaching both 
in the east and the west, he gained the illustrious reputation due to 
his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come 
to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom under the 
prefects." 



110 IN PURSUIT OF PETER. 

Can this be the Simon-pure Peter of the Gospels? 
Being named as an Apostle and coupled with Paul, a pre- 
sumptive identity is established, unless there has been an 
interpolation. This conjunction of Peter and Paul raised 
a suspicion in the mind of Antichrist, and he thought he 
would examine the fossil, footprint by the light of a Greek 
copy of the only existing manuscript of this Epistle, when 
lo ! all he found of Peter was the two final letters, os ! 
The printed Greek copy has {Petr\os^ showing that in the 
original there is no Petr.. 

The lacuna had to be filled by the transcriber, and the 
name of JPetros was the first to suggest itself, because 
Peter, you know, was the chief Apostle and Paul the 
"chiefest." But as Antichrist has demonstrated that 
Paul knew no Apostle Peter, he will take the liberty of 
filling the gap with some one of Paul's fellow preachers 
whose name ends with os. There are four from which to 
choose, namely, Apollos, Jacobos, (James,) Timotheos, 
and Titos. Now nothing is more certain in the history 
of those times than the murder of James (Jacobos) of 
Jerusalem, the very person, in all probability, with whom 
Paul conferred, as one of the three "pillars" and the so- 
called " Lord's brother." If anybody has any good and 
valid objection to this conjunction of Paul with James, 
the reputed first Bishop of Jerusalem, instead of the 
mythical Peter, let him now forbid the bans. 

And here Antichrist suspends his pursuit of Peter, not 
having been able to find a trace of him in the first hun- 
dred years or more after the alleged commission from his 
Master to go and preach the Gospel. The Apostle Cephas- 
whom Paul conferred with, and afterwards antagonized, 
bore not the slightest resemblance to the Gospel Peter, 
except that the name Cephas is a corruption of kepha, 
"a stone" in Aramaic, and petros means "a little rock" 



IN PURSUIT OF PETER. Ill 

in Greek. The original name was simply Simon, (Mark 
i, 16, 36,) to which Jesus added the surname Peter (Mark 
iii, 16; Luke vi, 14;) but the fourth Evangelist makes 
Jesus at first sight say to him, " Thou shalt be called 
Cephas," and then adds by way of explanation, "which 
means Petros." (i, 42.) And yet, in spite of this re- 
christening of the chief Apostle, he was never called 
Cephas, but always Peter. In the Gospels and Acts the 
name occurs 154 times, while the first mention of the 
name Cephas again is by Clement of Alexandria, who 
says that he was not an Apostle, but one of the seventy 
(Eus., i, 12.) 

What a prodigy was the Apostle Peter ! As the fruit 
of his first revival sermon 3,000 Hebrew sinners were 
converted out of a population of 15,000. In the name of 
Jesus he made the lame to walk. With the spirit of the 
Lord he smote the two false converts dead. By the 
power of prayer he brought a dead woman to life. The 
first nineteen years of his ministry were limited to Pales- 
tine. His mighty works at Jerusalem, Joppa, and Cesa- 
rea are told in the first half of the Book of Acts ; but after 
making a speech in the council at Jerusalem, about a. d. 
52, the inspired historian lets the curtain drop on him. 
But the next Church historian, Eusebius, (a. d. 315,) tells 
us that Peter preached in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Asia, and Bithynia. (B. iii, ch. 4.) What a circuit! greater 
in extent than the whole of the Eastern and Middle 
States! And then, too, he was first Bishop of Antioch 
(ib., ch. 35) and of Rome, where he was crucified about 
A. D. 66, having shortly before written an Epistle from 
Babylon, 2,000 miles distant. 

But the wonders wrought by Peter, as recorded in Holy 
Writ, are beaten all hollow in the apocryphal writings. 
The Clementine " Recognitions " and " Homilies " to- 



112 IN PUESUIT or PETER. 

gether make more than 600 pages, all about Peter. In 
the " Acts of Peter and Andrew " we are told that Peter 
made a camel go through a needle's eye four times ; and 
all the multitude saw it. In the " Acts of the Holy Apos- 
tles Peter and Paul " we read that Simon Magus, by the 
power of devils, in presence of Nero, flew through the 
air and seemed to be going up to heaven, when straight- 
way Peter invoked Jesus Christ, and down came Simon, 
dead as a mummy and divided into four parts. Besides 
these extant writings, there were in use in the early 
Church other books with the following titles: "Apoca- 
lypse of Peter," "Doctrine of Peter," "Gospel according 
to Peter," and "Acts of Peter." The latter was con- 
demned by Pope Gelasius, a. d. 492, and the "Gospel 
according to Peter " by Bishop Serapion of Antioch, about 
A. D. 210. 

Upon such a fabulous St. Peter the Christian Church 
is built. The credulous Fathers near the close of the 2d 
century found a fossil kephalo-pod, and have ever since 
been humbugging Christendom into the belief that it is 
the veritable skull of a pterodsLcijl. Peter must indeed 
have had wings to accomplish the marvellous journeys re- 
corded of him. But most of the stories written about 
him are now admitted to be as fictitious as the romance 
of Kobinson Crusoe, and Anticheist is fully persuaded 
that the whole Gospel story about him and the rest of 
the twelve Apostles will have to go into the category of 
the apocryphal books, leaving the real Peter, whoever he 
was, as uncertain a character as William Tell or WiU-o*- 
the-Wisp. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
THE THEEE APOSTLES JAMES. 

Besides the two disciples James, one the son of Zebi- 
dee and the other of Alpheus, there is a third James 
mentioned in the New Testament who seems to be at 
one time an Apostle and at another not. Now you see 
him, and now you don't. Commentators are perplexed 
about him ; he is one too many for them. 

The first Apostle James was killed by Herod about a. d. 
44. (Acts xii, 2.) James number two continues in and 
around Jerusalem sixteen years longer. He it is who 
in the council of Jerusalem, about a. d. 52, proposes a com- 
promise with the Gentile converts concerning the observ- 
ance of the Jewish law, and it is adopted, (xv, 13-29.) A 
few years later, about a. d. 60, he and the rest of the Eld- 
ers at Jerusalem reaffirm the former decree, (xxi, 18, 25.) 
This is the last account in Acts of James the second. 
There is less historical truth in the Book of Acts than in 
the "Scottish Chiefs," but for the present purpose we 
assume the foregoing statements as facts, and the chro- 
nology as correct. Indeed, if the facts are true the dates 
are quite right ; at all events, Christians are estopped 
from disputing either. 

Thus it appears that from the year 44 to 60 the surviv- 
ing Apostle James is the most prominent actor, next to 
Paul, in and about Jerusalem. Now let us take Paul's 
own statements in regard to James. In 1 Cor., xv, 7, we 
read that the risen Christ " was seen of James, then of all 
the Apostles." The plain implication here is that James 
was one of them. Again, in Gal. i, 18, Paul says that 
three years after his conversion he went up to Jerusalem 

113 



114 THE THREE APOSTLES JAMES. 

to see Cephas, and he adds, " But other of the Apostles 
saw I none save James, the Lord's brother." Here again 
the plain implication is that James was an Apostle, and 
the same one mentioned before. Paul's conversion is 
dated a. d. 30-38 ; therefore, if the Gospel story is true, 
there must have been two Apostles James at or near 
Jerusalem when Paul first met Cephas there. But Paul 
knows but one James. 

Again, fourteen years later Paul goes to Jerusalem and 
confers with James, Cephas, and John, (Gal. ii, 9.) At 
this time certainly James number one is dead, and it can 
hardly be doubted that the James here referred to was an 
Apostle if anybody was. The marginal date, a. d. 52, 
makes this event parallel with the Apostolic Council at 
Jerusalem mentioned in Acts, where James is the chief 
spokesman — though, as has been shown in a former arti- 
cle, every detail in Acts is at variance with Paul's own 
account in Galatians. 

But now let us go for James number three. In Matt, 
xiii, 55, and Mark vi, 3, we read that Jesus had four 
brothers, whose names were James, Joses, Simon, and 
Judas. Again, in Matt, xxvii, 56, and Mark xv, 40, we 
read that among the distant spectators of the crucifixion 
was "Mary the mother of James and Joses," two of the 
before-named brothers of Jesus. In vain have com- 
mentators tried to evade this identification. The fourth 
Gospel has present at the cross (not afar off, as the Syn- 
optics have it) two sisters Mary, one the mother of Jesus 
and the other of Clopas, (xix, 25,) whereupon some have 
conjectured that Clopas might be another name for James, 
who would therefore be a cousin of Jesus. This is not 
only guess work, but is contrary to early recorded tradi- 
tion, as will presently be seen. 

How the perpetual Virgin Mary became the mother o] 



THE THREE APOSTLES JAMES. 115 

a large family is no mystery like that of the miraculous 
conception. One of the early Apocryphal Gospels — 
though probably not so early as any of our four — tells 
us all about it. Joseph was a widower with four sons 
and two daughters, all married but James and Judas. 
Joseph was a priest as well as a carpenter, but lived 
mostly by the latter trade. Mary had been brought up 
in the temple till she was twelve years old, when the 
priests, lest they should fall into temptation and thus 
incur God's anger, agreed to entrust her to the fatherly 
care of some pious old man who wanted a young wife. 
So they assembled twelve old men who raffled for Mary. 
The ex-priest and carpenter won, and was betrothed to 
her at once, the marriage to be postponed until she 
reached a suitable age. But he took her to his own 
house and kept her two years, when she became a mother 
by the Holy Ghost. 

When Joseph discovered what was the matter with 
Mary he becarfte sorely troubled, and couldn't eat or 
drink for a whole day. He thought of hushing up the 
scandal by putting her away secretly. It is not said 
whether he suspected his son James, who was most ten- 
derly attached to his prospective step-mother. When she 
£rst came she found him broken-hearted at the recent 
loss of his own mother, but the advent of a lovely maiden, 
who, though some years his junior, assumed the relation 
of a mother to him, soon assuaged his grief; and she, 
caring for him as only a loving step-mother knows how, 
became known as " the mother of James," even before she 
became a wife to his father. The absence of the old gen- 
tleman, who had to be away at work at his trade, to say 
nothing of his age, which was then 92, no doubt tended 
to strengthen the ties between the son and his female 
guardian. 



116 THE THREE APOSTLES JAMES. 

But Joseph did not long remain on the ragged edge of 
anguish and despair. In the midst of his distress he fell 
asleep at noonday and had a dream, in which Gabriel ap- 
peared t6 him and explained the mystery of the immacu" 
late conception. That was enough ; the angelic friend 
tied up the storm, and so far as we know everybody was 
satisfied of the entire innocence of all concerned. The 
far-off Magi made haste to welcome the new-born King 
of the Jews, and even the wicked Herod was wroth with 
them for not telling him where the infant was, so that he 
might go and worship him also. 

The bird sang in Mary's heart. Such a child would 
render any household happy. Jesus grew up and lived 
in sweet accord with his two half-brothers Judas and 
James until the death of their father Joseph at the ripe 
old age of 111. Mary never had another child. Jesus 
addressed her reverently as his " virgin mother." Joseph, 
though legally married, seems not to have been a husband 
to her with ajl that the name implies. 

Some readers may think the above a burlesque. On 
the contrary, it is taken almost literally from the " His- 
tory of Joseph, the Carpenter," a book that was popular 
in the so-called evangelical age of the Church. If the 
style of the paraphrase should be thought satirical or 
irreverent, will any right-minded person pretend to say 
that such a story deserves any better treatment ? 

But the main purpose of citing this apocryphal book is 
to identify James number three with the brother of Jesus. 
In it he is called "James the less," which agrees with 
Mark xv, 40, where we read that " Mary, the mother of 
James the less and of Joses," beheld the crucifixion. 
That fixes their identity beyond cavil. 

But how about the Apostleship of James the less and 
brother of Jesus ? Commentators would be glad to iden- 



THE THREE APOSTLES JAMES. 117 

tify him with one of the two chosen disciples if they 
could. The father of James number one was Zebidee, of 
James number two Alpheus, of James number three 
Joseph. The last named James was called the less, and 
was half-brother to Jesus ; and as we read in John vii, 
5, that the brethren of Jesus did not believe on him. 
James number three, upon the testimony of the Gospels, 
must be ruled out of the college of Apostles. 

But now we will prove by Paul that this very James 
number three was a veritable Apostle. We have already 
shown that Paul knew but one James, who, according to 
the plain implication of language and from the necessity 
of the case, must have been an Apostle if there were any 
Apostles. The fact that Paul's James parallels with 
James number two of Acts is none of our present busi- 
ness. We did not forge the Book of Acts. Paul calls 
him "James, the Lord's brother," and that clearly iden- 
tifies him with the half-brother of Jesus, called James the 
less, the son not of Zebidee nor of Alpheus, but of Joseph 
the carpenter. Can anything be plainer ? 

Hegisippus, moreover, who was born in Palestine and 
flourished a. d. 160-180 at Eome, wrote an account of 
^' James the brother of the Lord," calling him an Apostle. 
(Eus. ii, 23.) 

But if any further evidence is needed to prove the ex- 
istence of a third Apostle James, we have it in the 
*' Apostolic Constitutions," a work formerly assigned to 
the Apostolic age, but now believed by most critics to 
belong to the 2d or 3d century. In Book vi, chap. 14, 
all the Apostles in council assembled unite in a declara- 
tion of faith ; among them is " James the brother of the 
Lord and Bishop. of Jerusalem." The other two Jameses 
are previously named ; and though the Lord's brother is 
not specifically called an Apostle, yet his status is at least 



118 THE THKEE APOSTLES JAMES. 

equal to that of the rest, and he is identified with the 
second Apostle James in Acts xv. So then in these 
ancient records, which the pious Whiston regarded as 
"the most sacred of the canonical books of the New 
Testament," we have three Apostles James. Quod erat 
demonstrandum. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 

Having proved from the holy Evangelists that there 
were but two Apostles James, and also from the " Apos- 
tolic Constitutions " that there were three, we now pro- 
ceed to prove that there was but one. Indeed it is 
already apparent, inasmuch as Paul knew but one James,, 
whom he describes as the Lord's brother and an Apostle. 
Doubtless there was a college of Essenean or Therepeutan 
Apostles in Paul's time, but the only three that he seems 
ever to have seen were James, Cephas, and John, and 
them not long. They believed in a Christ of some sort — • 
for the Jewish Christos is more than 200 years older than 
the Christian era — but they were too Judaic for Paul. 
Being citizens of Jerusalem, where the crucifixion was 
located by the later Christians, they would be likely to 
know more about that event than an outsider. If the 
Apostle John wrote the Apocalypse he certainly did not 
locate the crucifixion in the little city of Jerusalem, but 
in a " great city which spiritually is called Sodom and 
Egypt." (Rev. xi, 8.) Whatever the doctrine of the so- 
called Apostles of Jerusalem may have been, it is prob- 
able that the Christ crucified of Paul was to them down- 
right foolishness. 

Rejecting, as we must, the stories of the Gospels and 



THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 119 

Acts concerning the Apostles, because aside from their 
fabulous character there is no contemporaneous history 
to support them, only James of Jerusalem stands out as 
an Apostle of that name. Who and what was he "? 

In 1 Cor., ix, 5, Paul intimates that the Lord had 
" brothers " in the ministry, and in Gal. i, 19, he de- 
scribes James as "the Lord's brother." Origen, (a. d. 
230,) commenting on this last expression, says that Paul 
regarded James " as a brother 'of the Lord, not so much 
on account of their relationship by blood, or their being 
brought up together, as because of Ms virtue and doc- 
trine." (Agt. Cels., i, 47.) In other words, James's piety 
had earned him the title. In the list of the 70 Apostles 
by Hippolytus, (a. d. 222,) James is called " brother of 
God,'' (adelphotheos.) The word " Lord " {kurios) often 
means God in the New Testament. Among the Essenes 
the word " brother " stood for a spiritual relationship, and 
Jesus himself is reported as saying, " Whosoever shall do 

the will of my Father the same is my brother, and 

sister, and mother." 

Eusebius says that James, to whom the risen Christ 
appeared, as stated by Paul, " was not merely one of the 
disciples of our Savior, but was one of his brethren." 
(B. i, ch. 12.) Again he says he was " called the brother 
of our Lord because he is called the son of Joseph." But 
Eusebius not only does not stop to reconcile the state- 
ment of John vii, 5, that the brethren of Jesus did not 
believe on him, but goes right on to add : " This James, 
therefore, whom the ancients, on account of the excel- 
lence of his virtue, surnamed the Just, was the first that 
received the episcopate of the church at Jerusalem ;" and 
in proof of this he cites a passage from a book of Clement 
of Alexandria, not now extant, as follows : " Peter, James, 
and John, after the ascension of our Savior, though they 



120 THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 

had been preferred by our Lord, did not contend for the 
honor, but chose James the Just as Bishop of Jeru- 
salem." And a little further on Eusebius says : "Paul 
also makes mention of the Just in his Epistle — ' But 
other of the Apostles,' says he, ' saw I none save James 
the brother of our Lord.' " (B. ii, ch. 1.) 

From the foregoing it is evident that Eusebius regards 
James, the second Apostle of that name, as the first 
Bishop of Jerusalem, being the son of Joseph and a half 
brother of Jesus Christ, while the language of Origen 
and Hippolytus implies doubt of a blood relationship be- 
tween James and Jesus ; and in Hippolytus's list of 
Apostles, Bishop James is not one of the twelve, but 
of the seventy. It is not for Antichrist to harmonize 
Paul with the Evangelists, nor the Fathers with one an- 
other. Between these ancient millstones, commentators 
have been compelled to grind out a third James, who 
stands forth as the only historical Apostle of that name, 
who, according to the old legends, was a brother of Jesus 
and yet not by blood — who was brought up with him and 
yet was an unbeliever in him. Antichrist stands on the 
rock of scientific truth, and none of these irreconcilable 
legends trouble him. 

But so little light is thrown upon the real character 
of James of Jerusalem in the New Testament or the 
writings of the Fathers already quoted, that we must look 
for further evidence concerning him. Josephus, who at- 
tests the martyrdom of such a person, would be the best 
witness, but we will first take Ecclesiastical history. 

Hegisippus was born in Palestine, of Jewish parents. 
He travelled widely, and came to Eome when Anicetus 
was Bishop, (a. d. 158-169.) Subsequently he wrote a 
work of historical memoirs in five books, and thus became 
the first Ecclesiastical historian. Portions of this work 



THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 121 

have been transmitted by Eusebius. It must have been 
written after the year 177, as it mentions the succession 
of Eleutherius. The testimony which Hegisippus gives 
in regard to James, as quoted by Eusebius, (ii, 23,) is 
very remarkable, as follows : 

"James, the brother of the Lord, who, as there were many of 
this name, was surnamed the Just by all, from the days of our Lord 
until now, received the government of the church with the Apostles. 
This Apostle was consecrated from his mother's womb. He drank 
neither wine nor fermented liquors, and abstained from animal 
food. A razor never came upon his head." 

This is an exact description of a Nazarite as recorded 
in Numbers vi, 2-5 ; and Judges xiii, 4-7, and xvi, 17. 
Samson was a Nazarite. Jesus and his disciples were 
not ; they drank wine and ate animal food. 

"He never anointed with oil, and never used a bath." 

Jesus said, " When thou fastest anoint thy head." He 
also washed his disciples' feet and commanded them to 
baptize. How, then, could this James have been a dis- 
ciple of Jesus ? 

The remainder of the story from Hegisippus in regard 
to James, is as follows : 

" He alone was allowed to enter the sanctuary. He never wore 
woolen but linen garments. He was in the habit of entering the 
temple alone, and was often found upon his bended knees and in- 
terceding for the forgiveness of the people ; so that his knees be- 
came as hard as camel's in consequence of his habitual supplication 
and kneeling before God. And indeed, on account of his exceed- 
ing great piety, he was called the Just, and Oblias, (or Zaddick and 
Ozleam,) which signifies justice and protection of the people, as the 
prophets declared concerning him. 

' ' Some of the seven sects, therefore, of the people, mentioned by 
nae above in my Commentaries, asked him what was the door to 
Jesus ? and he answered ' that he was the Savior. ' From which 
some believed that Jesus is the Christ. But the aforesaid heresies 
did not believe either a resurrection, or that he was coming to give 



122 THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 

to every one according to his works ; as many, however, as did be- 
lieve, did so on account of James. As there were many, therefore, 
of the rulers that believed, there arose a tumult among the Jews, 
Scribes, and Pharisees, saying that there was danger that the peo- 
ple would now expect Jesus as the Messiah. 

' ' They came therefore together, and said to James, ' We entreat 
thee, restrain the people, who are led astray after Jesus, as if he 
were the Christ. We entreat thee to persuade all that are coming to 
the feast of the passover rightly concerning Jesus ; for we have all 
confidence in thee. For we and all the people bear thee testimony 
that thou art just, and thou respectest not persons. Persuade, there- 
fore, the people not to be led astray by Jesus, for we and all the 
people have great confidence in thee. Stand therefore upon a wing 
of the temple, that thou mayest be conspicuous on high, and thy 
words may be easily heard by all the people ; for all the tribes have 
come together on account of the passover, with some of the Gen- 
tiles also.' 

"The aforesaid Scribes and Pharisees, therefore, placed James 
upon a wing of the temple, and cried out to him, ' O thou just man, 
whom we ought all to believe, since the people are led astray after 
Jesus that was crucified, declare to us what is the door to 
Jesus that was crucified.' And he answered with a loud voice, 
* Why do ye ask me respecting Jesus the son of man ? He is now 
sitting in the heavens, on the right hand of great Power, and is 
about to come on the clouds of heaven.' 

*' And as many were confirmed and gloried in this testimony of 
James, and said Hosanna to the Son of David, these same priests 
and Pharisees said to one another, ' We have done badly in afford- 
ing such testimony to Jesus, but let us go up and cast him down, 

that they may dread to believe in him.' Going up, therefore, 

they cast down the just man And they began to stone him, as he 

did not die immediately when cast down ; but turning round he 
knelt down saying, ' I entreat thee, O Lord God and Father, for- 
give them, for they know not what they do.' 

"Thus they were stoning him, when one of the priests of the 
sons of Rechab, a son of the Rechabites, spoken of by Jeremiah the 
prophet, cried out, saying : ' Cease ; what are you doing ? Justus 
is praying for you. ' And one of them, a fuller, beat out the brains 
of Justus with the club that he used to beat out cloths. Thus he 
suffered martyrdom, and they buried him on the spot, where his 



THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 123 

tombstone is still remaining, by the temple. He became a faith- 
ful witness, both to the Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ. 
Immediately after this, Vespasian invaded and took Judea." 

Even after making due allowance for errors, interpola- 
tions, and falsehoods in the above narrative, it is impos- 
sible to identify the subject of it with any James de- 
scribed in the Gospels and Acts. Hegisippus's James 
was evidently a cross between a Pharisee and an Essene. 
We might at once pronounce him an Essene but for his 
abhorrence of water. That sect, as described by Jose- 
phus, abjured oil, but took to water like ducks ; but this 
James abhorred both. Perhaps, as a Nazarite, he was. 
privileged to go dirty. Cleanliness with many ancient 
recluses and ascetics was not akin to godliness. 

But as if to fix the Jewish status of James beyond 
question, Eusebius quotes Josephus concerning his 
death (xx, 9) in substance correctly. Ananus, a rash and 
daring Sadducee, succeeded to the high priesthood. Al- 
binus, the procurator, being on his way to Judea as suc- 
cessor to Festus, deceased, the high priest Ananus assem- 
bled the Sanhedrim of judges, and " bringing thither the 
brother of Jesus who is called Christ, whose name was 
James, with some others, he presented an accusation 
against them, as if they had violated the law, and com- 
mitted them to be stoned as criminals." This act aroused 
the indignation of the best citizens, by whose entreaty, 
on the arrival of Albinus, the high priest Ananus was re- 
moved, after holding the office only three months, and 
was succeeded by Jesus the son of Damneus. (Ens. 
ii, 23.) 

Note here, by the way, the frequent occurrence of the 
name Jesus. Besides Jesus the brother of James, there 
were three high priests named Jesus in the short space 
of 65 years, from a. d. 4 to 69. See Whiston's Josephus^ 



124 THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 

XX, 8, note ; and McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia of 
Biblical Literature, article "High Priest." If the chro- 
nology in the last-named authority is correct, making 
Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest a. d. 62-5, then 
James the Just was killed as early as the year 62. 

The identity of the Apostle and first Bishop of Jerusa- 
lem with the James mentioned by Josephus is not accept- 
able to modern Churchmen. Lardner and others reject 
as spurious the words in Josephus quoted above, "who 
is called Christ," and argue that this account of the 
^ death of James is opposed to that given by Hegisippus. 
But Josephus was contemporary with the event, while 
Hegisippus flourished a hundred years later. Josephus 
narrates the condemnation of one James called the Just, 
by a Sadducean high priest. One hundred years after- 
ward, a wandering Christianized Jew at Eome embellishes 
the story, and makes the Jewish James a Christian martyr. 
Such is the stuff out of which most of the early Christian 
martyrs are made. If there had been an Apostolic Bishop 
James of Jerusalem in Josephus's time, he certainly would 
have recorded the fact, for he lived right there. But the 
James that Josephus knew and that Paul slily ventured 
to call upon, was not known as a Christian, but only as 
a Pharisee or Essene, with certain vague and probably 
secret views about a coming Christos, the Son of God. 

And this view is in accord with that of the Jews as de- 
rived from their Talmud, which speaks of James as the 
pupil (not brother) of Jesus, and makes out both master 
and pupil to be tolerably orthodox Pharisees, only they 
rejected the authority of the Eabbis and believed in nec- 
romancy. The latter heresies may have put them out of 
the pale of the Pharisaic synagogue and got them into 
trouble. Josephus records the martyrdom of the pupil, 



THE APOSTOLIC JAMES OF JERUSALEM. 125 

but knows nothing of the alleged crucifixion of the mas- 
ter, who doubtless died a natural death. 

Thus the three Apostles James are reduced to one, and 
that one not much of an Apostle, nor even of a Christian. 
It is the old story repeated, of three black crows reduced 
down to something as black as a crow. 



CHAPTEE XXVn. 

THE APOSTLE JOHN. 

Peter, James, and John are the prominent Apostles of 
the Gospel ; the rest of the twelve are of little or no ac- 
count — mostly figure-heads to fill up the sacred number. 
Judas, it is true, cuts a lively figure, but cuts it so short 
that his influence in propagating Christianity may be set 
down at zero, if not several degrees below. James num- 
ber one, the brother of John, runs but a short career, 
being killed by Herod, if the story of Acts is true ; but 
his namesake takes up the role^ and continues on the stage 
as a star actor for many years. Being suddenly promoted 
from a supernumerary to a principal performer, the play 
continues without any change in the printed bills. 

It is a remarkable fact that the fourth Gospel takes no 
notice of James, except indirectly in the last chapter, 
which is manifestly a later addition by another hand, where 
we read merely that " the sons of Zebidee " were present 
with other disciples at the sea of Tiberias when a third 
spiritual manifestation of the risen Jesus took place. O 
naughty John ! Why did you leave out of your Gospel 
all mention of your elder brother, the other " son of thun- 
der ? " Why did you ignore the incident about James and 
yourself wanting to call down fire from heaven to con- 
sume a certain village I Why did you omit to tell the 



126 THE APOSTLE JOHN. 

wonderful story of the transfiguration which only Peter, 
James, and yourself were privileged to witness, when you 
saw the ghost of Moses and Elias, and were ordered to 
keep mum about the matter till after the resurrection ? 
Couldn't you have given a better description of that seance 
than Matthew or Mark, who were not there ? And why 
didn't you explain whether it was James and yourself, as 
Mark says, or your mother on your behalf, as Matthew 
says, who petitioned your Master that you two brothers 
should be allowed to sit on his right and left hand in his 
kingdom ? You were not too modest to speak of yourself 
as the disciple whom Jesus loved and whom he permitted 
to lean on his bosom : was it fair or fi'aternal never to 
mention even the name of your apostolic brother or a 
single act that he did ? Had you lived so long and be- 
come so respectable that you were ashamed of your former 
pursuit as partner with your brother in the fish business ? 

No wonder, in view of these remarkable omissions of 
John's Gospel, that it was first to be rejected as spurious 
by modern critics. It is impossible to recognize in it a 
truthful history of the ministry of Jesus. But what does 
its rejection imply ? Why, nothing less than that the 
writer could not have believed the prior Gospel story, 
whether as related in the Synoptics or the various Apoc- 
ryphal Gospels. 

With the rejection of the fourth Gospel follows that of 
the three so-called Epistles of John, all of which must be 
dated as late as a. d. 150, there being no certain trace of 
them earlier. 

But how about the Bevelation ? That book bears in- 
ternal evidence of having been written as early as a. d. 
68-9, by an Essenean Jew. It may therefore be truly 
ascribed to a so-called Apostle John, though the writer 
styles himself only a " servant " of Jesus Christ. Assum- 



THE APOSTLE JOHN. 127 

ing that he was the beloved Apostle, what reference do 
we find in his book to his apostolic brethren 1 He calls 
upon the " holy Apostles and prophets " to rejoice over 
the fall of the mystic Babylon (xviii, 20,) — a supposed 
allusion to Rome ; he praises the Ephesians for detect- 
ing false Apostles (ii, 2,) — a probable reference to Paul ; 
and he speaks of " the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." 
(xxi, 14.) Now the word Lamb throughout the Revela- 
tion is synonymous with Jesus, Christ, the Lord, and 
God Almighty ; and there is no definite intimation that 
there ever existed a Jesus, a Christ, a Lord, a God, or a 
Lamb in human flesh. John's Lamb has seven horns 
and seven eyes (v, 6 ;) is worshipped by angels, beasts, 
and elders (11 ;) gets wrathy (vi, 17 ;) wages war and 
overcomes ten combined kingdoms (xvii, 14 ;) gets mar- 
ried and celebrates the wedding with a grand and Godly 
supper, at which the fowls of heaven are invited to feed 
on human flesh (xix, 7, 17, 18;) lights up the New Jeru- 
salem with his divine presence (xxi, 23 ;) and keeps an 
account-book (xx, 12.) 

What trace is there in the book of Revelation of the 
birth, life, miracles, or teachings of Jesus Christ *? What 
intimation of his martyrdom beyond the vague reference 
to his being crucified in a great city spiritually called 
Sodom and Egypt ? (xi, 8.) What allusion to any past 
advent of Christ or to a second coming 1 He is spoken 
of as " the first begotten of the dead " (i, 5 ;) but having 
been " slain from the foundation of the world," (xiii, 8,) 
and being yet alive somewhere in the realms above, it is 
to be presumed that his resurrection was about as long 
ago as his death, and that he has yet to make his first 
appearance to the world. And when he does come he 
will take vengeance on all save the favored ones who 
have washed their robes and made them white in his 



128 THE APOSTLE JOHN. 

blood. How, by the way, such a washing can make robes 
white, is a mystery as inconceivable as that of the divine 
incarnation. But all of these problems are to be solved 
when the time comes for the saints to sing — = 

Lo ! what a glorious sight appears 

To our beheving eyes ; 
The earth and seas have passed away, 

And the old rolling skies. 

The earliest trace of a historical Apostle John is in 
Gal. ii, 9, where Paul confers with James, Cephas, and 
John, and receives from them the right hand of fellow- 
ship to preach to the heathen. Paul does not call him 
an Apostle, but one of the " pillars ; " it is to be pre- 
sumed, however, that a pillar-saint in those times stood 
as high as an Apostle. 

The next appearance of the name is as the writer of 
the book of Revelation, who calls himself a " servant " of 
Jesus. It is possible that Paul's John wrote that book ; 
but if he did, he could not have written either the fourth 
Gospel or the Epistles ascribed to him. The canons of 
criticism forbid so rash an assumption. Nor could the 
Revelator have been a fisherman of Galilee, a brother 
and partner of James, a companion of Peter, or a dis- 
ciple of the Gospel Jesus. 

The next appearance of the name is in Justin's " Dia- 
logue with Trypho," written about a. d. 150, where Jus- 
tin speaks of John as " one of the disciples of Christ, who 
prophesied by a Revelation that was made to him that 
those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand 
years in Jerusalem," (ch. 81.) This is a probable refer- 
ence to the book of Revelation. 

Contemporary with Justin lived Papias, Bishop of Hier- 
opolis, who wrote a book entitled "Exposition of the 
Lord's Oracles," of which a few fragments are preserved 



THE APOSTLE JOHN. 129 

by Ireneus and Eusebius. Ireneus asserts that Papias 
was the hearer of John, meaning the Apostle ; but Euse- 
bius corrects him by showing what is perfectly apparent 
from the language of Papias, that he merely professed to 
receive the doctrines of the Apostles orally from those 
who were in company with them — in other words, by 
tradition. Papias names John twice ; first in conjunction 
with several of the Lord's chosen disciples, and again in 
these words : " Aristion and the Presbyter John, disciples 
of the Lord." Papias is said to have suffered martyrdom 
about A. D. 164-7. It is folly to suppose that he was a 
hearer of the Apostle, but quite possible that he knew a 
Presbyter John. Eusebius thinks so, and refers to a 
statement of Dionysius of Alexandria (a. d. 246-264) that 
there are two tombs at Ephesus, each bearing the name 
John, thereby leading to the inference that there were 
two Johns, one an Apostle and the other a Presbyter. 
But the tradition that the Apostle John spent a consider- 
able period of the latter part of his life at Ephesus has 
been disputed by some able German critics, one of whom 
denies that he was ever there. (Scholten, De Apostel Jo- 
hannes, 1871.) That, however, depends upon which John 
is meant — the mythical or the historical. 

After Justin and Papias the four Gospels and Acts make 
their appearance. The first mention of one of them by 
name is by Theophilus of Antioch, a. d. 180, who quotes the 
first verse of the fourth Gospel as spoken by the " divinely 
inspired John ; " and the first writer who classes the four 
Gospels together by name is Lreneus, a. d. 190. Prior to 
these two writers there is no reference to or certain 
quotation from any one of our four Gospels or the Acts. 
(Sup. Rel. ii, 474.) The author of " The Christ of Paul," 
published by Somerby, 1876, undertakes to prove that 
Ireneus himself wrote the fourth Gospel, but willing as 



130 THE APOSTLE JOHN. 

we might be to accept such a demonstration, in our opin- 
ion he fails to make out even a plausible case. 

Ireneus's own testimony from hearsay concerning John 
is next to worthless. He says he continued with the church 
of Ephesus, founded by Paul, until the times of Trajan 
(a. d. 98. Eus. iii, 23 ;) and that all the elders who were con- 
versant with him in Asia, some of whom saw and heard not 
only John, but the other Apostles also, testify that Jesus 
was an old man ! (Agt. Heresies, ii, 22.) Assuming that 
John died a. d. 99, Peter and Paul a. d. 66, and James 
A. D. 62, how old must an elder have been when Ireneus 
became Bishop of Lyons a. d. 177, to have been an intel- 
ligent hearer of those Apostles ? One who heard John 
might be as young as 90, one who heard Peter and Paul 
about 125, and one who heard James 130 or upwards. 
Ireneus did not stop to fix the figures when he spun that 
yarn. 

Without stopping to consider various other traditions 
concerning John, such as his being thrust into a cal- 
dron of boiling oil without getting scalded, his being 
condemned to labor in the mines of Patmos, his horror 
at meeting the heretic Cerinthus at a bath and running 
away lest the bath-house should fall in, and his holding 
to the Jewish time of celebrating the Easter feast in di- 
rect antagonism to the fourth Gospel, let us notice a curi- 
ous millenarian notion he is said to have received from 
his Master. Ireneus says that Papias heard John say that 
Jesus said that — 

"The days will come in which vines shall grow, each having 
10,000 branches, and in each branch 10,000 twigs, and in each twig 
10,000 shoots, and in each one of the shoots 10,000 clusters, and on 
every one of the clusters 10,000 grapes, and every grape when pressed 
will give 25 metretes of wine." (Agt. Heresies, v, 33.) 

Now, taking Smith's Bible Dictionary as authority for 



THE APOSTLE JOHN. ' 131 

the value of a xnetrete, to wit, 8J gallons, it follows that 
the product of one millenial grape-vine will make a quan- 
tity of wine equal in bulk to the planet Mercury ; and 
allowing to the thousand million of earth's inhabitants 
enough to keep them constantly intoxicated, say two gal- 
lons of wine a day to each one,* it would keep them all dead 
drunk for the space of thirty thousand million years ! 

But the most significant statement concerning the 
Apostle John is by Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus. Writ- 
ing to Victor, Bishop of Kome, (a. d. 190-202,) after speak- 
ing of " Philip, one of the twelve Apostles, who sleeps at 
Hieropolis," he says : 

' ' Moreover, John, that rested on the bosom of our Lord, who was 
spriest that bore the scasr dotal plate, and martyr and teacher, he also 
rests at Ephesus," (Eus. iii, 31.) 

A Bishop of Ephesus, a. d. 200, ought to know whereof 
he writes touching a grave one hundred years old in his 
own city, and the character of its occupant ; and if what 
he says is true, the Apostle John wore a plate of gold, two 
fingers broad, reaching from one ear to the other, being 
the identical badge of Aaron and his priestly successors. 
It is described in Ex. xxviii, 36, and xxxix, 30, as the 
*' plate of the holy crown," containing the inscription, 
^' Holiness to the Lord." The Greek word is petalon, 
both in Eusebius and Septuagint. 

What, then, was John but a Jewish priest of the Esse- 
nian sect, like James of Jerusalem, infected with certain 
peculiar views about Jesus Christ, such as are embodied 
in the Revelation? The earliest traditions ascribe that 
book to John the Apostle, and there is nothing in it in- 
consistent with the character of an Essenian priest. The 
writer consigns to the " synagogue of Satan " those who 
" say they are Jews and are not, but do lie," (iii, 9,) knows 
nothing of a historical Jesus, but, like pseudo Daniel and 



132 THE APOSTLE JOHN.. 

Enoch, looks for the coming of a Christos or Son of Man 
in the clouds of Heaven. John the Revelator is no more 
like John the beloved disciple than Old Hundred is like 
Auld Lang Syne. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

HOW MANY APOSTLES WEEE THERE? 

If Jesus was a myth, so were his chosen Apostles. 
Antichrist frankly confesses that he can't make phantom 
of one and flesh of the other. Therefore he has under- 
taken the novel but necessary task of proving the non- 
existence of the twelve " evangelical Apostles." He has 
examined their footprints, and finds that they belong to 
a false formation ; he has inspected their fossil remains, 
and discovers that they are fabricated. In this explora- 
tion he is a pioneer. 

That there were so-called Apostles of Christ in the first 
century is not denied, but they cannot be identified or 
connected with the chosen twelve of the Gospels. That 
a Jesus may have existed in those days is quite probable, 
for there was no commoner name among the Jews ; but 
to identify the Gospel Jesus with any one of the numer- 
ous historical characters of that name is impossible. In 
the Septuagint Joshua is always rendered Jesus. About 
350 years b. c. a high priest named John slew his brother 
Jesus in the temple. (Jos. Ant., xi, 7.) There was a 
high priest named Jesus from the year 35 to 23 b. c; 
another a. d. 4-5, and two more a. d. 62-69. (McClin- 
tock & Strong's Cyc.) No doubt some of the many 
Jesuses of those times resembled in a few particulars the 
character given to the Gospel Jesus ; but find, if you can. 



HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE THERE? 133 

the trace of one claiming Messiahship who was crucified 
or put to death in the reign of Tiberius. 

It has been shown that Paul knew none of the twelve 
Apostles of the Gospel, and that James, Cephas, and 
John, with whom he conferred, were probably Essenian 
priests who for a time tolerated Paul, but afterwards re- 
pudiated him. (Rev. ii, 2, 9.) It further appears that 
the traces of a historical Jesus in' Paul's writings are very- 
meagre and uncertain. He mentions the eucharist, (1 
Cor., xi,) but says he received the knowledge of it from 
the Lord. He tells of six appearances of the risen Christ, 
(1 Cor., XV,) but this, too, he says he received from the 
same source. Now the fact of the institution of the 
eucharist by Jesus is contradicted by the fourth Gospel, 
and the six appearances of Christ are irreconcilable with 
the four Gospels and Acts. Then as to the death of 
Christ, Paul uses the word crucified so frequently in a 
figurative sense, that it is at least very doubtful whether 
he believed in a literal crucifixion. He was evidently 
tinctured with Gnosticism, which allegorized the Scrip- 
tures and believed in an ideal Jesus Christ. 

Paul frequently refers to the Apostles as if they were 
well known, but besides James, Cephas, and John, he ap- 
plies the term Apostle specifically to but one other per- 
son, to wit, Epaphroditus. (Phil, ii, 25.) The word 
apostolos is here translated " messenger ;" so, also, in 2 
Cor., viii, 23 ; but everywhere else it is Apostle, except in 
John xiii, 16, where the word is literally translated " he 
that is sent." In 1 Thes., ii, 6, speaking for himself, Sil- 
vanus and Timotheus, Paul says, " we might have been 
burdensome as the Apostles of Christ," thereby implying 
that Silvanus and Timothy were also Apostles. It would 
seem that he applied the term in no very limited sense, 
ior not only does he call Epaphroditus an Apostle, but in 



134 HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE THERE? 

2 Cor., viii, 23, he speaks of the " brethren " as apostoloi 
— translated "messengers." So, for aught we know,. 
Paul's fellow Apostles may have exceeded a dozen or a 
score. 

The meaning of Apostle is simply "one sent forth." 
Disciple is the term used first and most frequently in the 
four Gospels, whether as applied to the twelve or to all 
the followers of Jesus. The word Apostle occurs but 
once in Matthew and once in Mark, while in Luke it 
occurs six times, and in Acts thirty times. Matthew uses 
the word at the time the twelve are chosen, (x, 2,) and 
Mark a little later, (vi, 30.) Luke first uses it where 
Matthew does, and next where Mark does, while in its 
subsequent use, by referring to parallel events in Matthew 
and Mark, an intentional variation from them is evinced 
by the insertion of the word. Then in Acts Luke uses it 
oftener than the word disciple. This looks like evolution. 
We find it once in Matthew, once in Mark, six times in 
Luke, and thirty times in the first sixteen chapters of 
Acts ; but not once in the remainder, or so-called " we " 
portion, from the xvi, 10 to the end, which was worked 
over from a prior manuscript. 

In the fourth Gospel the word Apostle is not found at 
all as a specific title, and only in this passage : " Neither 
is he that is sent [apostolos} greater than he that sent 
him " (xiii, 16 ;) while the word disciple occurs eighty-one 
times. This is the more remarkable, considering the fact 
that in the Epistles and Revelation the word Apostle is 
of frequent occurrence, while disciple is never used. In 
all this the different schools of Christianity are apparent. 
In the earlier Epistles and Revelation we have the Apos- 
tles of Christ and of the Lamb, showing the worship of 
an ideal being who could have had no pupils or disciples. 
In the first two Gospels, which introduce a historical 



HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE THERE? 135 

Christ, his personal followers musfc needs be disciples. 
In the third, which is sometimes called the Pauline Gos- 
pel, because it suited the followers of Paul, the word 
Apostle comes into frequent use. In the Acts, written by 
the same hand, with a view of harmonizing Paul with 
Peter, it is used more frequently still. But now comes 
the fourth Gospel, the writer of which belongs to an en- 
tirely different school. He hates the Jews, is imbued 
with Pagan Gnosticism, and in writing a new Gospel 
knows no Apostles, only disciples. 

And now to complete the purpose of this* essay, Anti- 
christ will submit a short catechism : 

Q. — How many original Apostles were there ? 

A. — Twelve. 

Q. — How many after Judas stepped out? 

A. — Eleven. 

Q. — How many after the selection of Matthias by a 
raffle to fill his place "? (Acts i, 26.) 

A. — Twelve again. 

Q.— -How many after the murder of James number one ? 
(Acts xii, 2.) 

A. — ^Eleven. 

Q. — How many after the appointment of Barnabas and 
Paul as Apostles "? (Acts xiii, 2 ; xiv, 14.) 

A. — Thirteen. 

Q. — How many Apostles does Paul name ? 

A. — Not more than five. 

Q. — What are their names ? 

A. — Paul, James, Cephas, John, and Epaphroditus. 

Q. — Does he not acknowledge any more ? 

A. — He does, but not by name ; he may have meant to 
apply the term to many more of his fellow preachers. 

Q. — Does he appear to have known any of the twelve 
Apostles of the Gospels, or Matthias? 



136 HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE THERE'? 

A. — He does not. 

Q. — Does he speak of any false Apostles? (2 Cor., 
xi, 13.) 

A. — He does, calling them deceitful workers. 

Q. — How came Paul to be an Apostle? (1 Cor., i, 1; 
Gal. i, 1.) 

A. — He says he was called by the will of God, and not 
of men. 

Q. — What is said about it in Acts ? 

A. — Certain disciples at Antioch laid their hands on 
him and sent him away along with Barnabas as a mis- 
sionary, (xiii, 1-3,) and the two were afterwards called 
Apostles, (xiv, 14.) 

Q. — Was this ordination of Paul performed by the 
Apostles ? 

A. — Probably not, for it does not appear that at that 
time there were any Apostles at Antioch. 

Q. — Are there any more Apostles recognized by the 
early Fathers ? 

A. — Yes. Clement of Rome is so called by his name- 
sake of Alexandria (a. d. 200 ;) and the seventy disciples 
are named and included in the list of Apostles by Hip- 
polytus (a. d. 220.) 

Q. — Seventy besides the twelve ? 

A. — Yes, and including one named Cephas not of the 
twelve — probably the Cephas of Paul. 

Q. — Have we any further history of the Apostles be- 
sides that in Acts ? 

A. — Yes, in the " Apostolic Constiftutions," in which it 
is written that the Apostles assembled in one place and 
united in a declaration of faith. (B. vi, ch. 14.) 

Q. — How many Apostles were there assembled? 

A. — Fourteen. 

Q. — What ones besides the original eleven ? 



HOW MANY APOSTLES WERE THERE? 137 

A. — Matthias, James the Lord's brother, and Paul. 

Q. — When was this Convention held? 

A. — Some time after the first Apostolic Council spoken 
of in Acts XV. 

Q. — Was not James, the brother of John, killed prior 
to that first Council ? 

A. — He was, about eight years before. 

Q. — Then how could he be present at a still later 
Convention ? 

A. — Don't know, unless he rose from the dead. . 

Q. — Any further record on the subject of Apostleship t 

A. — Yes ; in some ancient Syriac documents recently 
brought to light (Ante-Nic. Lib., vol. xx) we read of 
" Luke the Apostle " and of " Thaddeus the Apostle, one 
of the seventy," elsewhere called "Addeus the Apostle, 
one of the seventy- two." 

Q. — How is this question of Apostleship to be settled ? 

A. — By the certificates of the Returning Board. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
POSTSCRIPT ABOUT PETER. 

Considering Peter's ways as past finding out, we had 
no thought of resuming the pursuit of that Apostle ; but 
fortune having, favored us with a Syriac New Testament, 
we have discovered a thing or two which we crave the in- 
dulgence of the reader to submit. 

This Syriac New Testament is called the Peshito, and 
it can be traced back to the latter part of the second cen- 
tury, or about the time when the Greek Gospels first made 
their appearance. Indeed, it is quite possible, aye, even 
probable, that the greater part of the New Testament was 
first written in Syriac, for reasons herewith adduced. 



138 



POSTSCRIPT ABOUT PETER. 



There is no Peter in the four Syriac Gospels, nor in the 
Epistles of Paul. Everywhere it is either Shemeun 
(Simon) or Kepha, which answers to the Greek Kephas, 
or to the English Cephas. 

Now in Paul's Epistles the name Kephas occurs eight 
times, and Petros twice. But we have heretofore sub- 
mitted cogent reasons for believing Petros to be an inter- 
polation; and now behold the ocular proof that our 
conclusion was right. In the Syriac of Gal. ii, 7, 8, it is 
Kepha^ just as it is eight times elsewhere. The Syrian 
scribe, whether he copied from an original Syriac or Greek 
document, found no Petros there. Now, therefore, we 
reaffirm more confidently than before, that Paul knew no 
Apostle Peter. 

The* language spoken in Palestine 1800 years ago was 
Aramaic, which was allied to the Syriac, Chaldee, and 
Hebrew, and it is said that kepha in Aramaic means a 
stone. It is certain that in the Syriac it means a stone, 
for we so find it everywhere in that version. Now sup- 
posing that -Jesus spoke Aramaic, or Syriac, which are 
nearly alike, how easy it is to understand this passage in 
the Syriac: 

" Thou art KepJia, and upon this kepJia I will build my church." 
(Matt, xvi, 18.) 

But in the Greek the pun would require explanation ; 
therefore the scribe, finding that kepha meant stone, sub- 
stituted its Greek equivalent Petros for the name Kepha. 

Again : take this passage from the Syriac : 

" Thou art Shemeun^ (Simon,) the son of Jona : thou shalt be 
called ^ej97ia." (John i, 42.) 

No reason is here appended why Simon is to be called 
Kepha. But see, now, how the Greek scribe tampers 
with the text. First he introduces Peter by interpolation 
in verse 40, so that instead of reading as in the Syriac, 



POSTSCRIPT ABOUT PETEK. 139 

*' Simon's brother," the Greek reads, " Simon Peter s 
brother." Then in verse 42, after the words " thou shalt 
be called Kephas" he adds, " which means Petros^ He 
wanted to inform his readers that kepha in Syriac meant 
petros in Greek ; just as our translators took pains to make 
the clause intelligible to the English reader by rendering 
it, " which is by interpretation a stoned 

Another reason in this connection for believing that the 
Gospels were first written in Syriac, is, that in John i, 41, 
after the words " We have found the Messias," the Greek 
version adds, " which is, being interpreted, the Christos, 
In the Syriac Meshiha means Christos, i. e., anointed ; so 
no interpretation was needed. 

In further evidence of the originahty of the Syriac, note 
the remarkable disproportion in the occurrence of the 
names Petros and Kepha, Simon and Shemeun, in the two 
versions. The following table shows the number of times 
that Petros occurs in the Greek and Kepha in the Syriac i 

Matt. Mark. Luke. John. Acts. Total. 

Petros 24 19 20 35 58 156 

Kepha 24 12 10 21 12 79 

Compare now the number of times Simon occurs in 
the Greek and Shemeun in the Syriac : 

Matt. Mark. Luke. John. Acts. Total. 

Simon 5 6 15 22 5 53 

Shemeun 6 13 27 34 55 135 

How wonderfully are the tables turned ! Petros stands 
to Kepha as 156 to 79, or about two to one ; while Simon 
stands to Shemeun as 53 to 135, or nearly one to three L 
Petros and Kepha start exactly even in Matthew, but in 
Acts Petros leads Kepha by 58 to 12, or nearly five to 
one ; while Shemeun, with only a little the start of Simon 
in Matthew, gets almost out of sight of him in Acts, the 
distance apart being as 5 to 55, or eleven to one ! 



140 POSTSCRIPT ABOUT PETER. 

These discrepancies evince design. But which is the 
more probable hypothesis — that the Syrian scribe, in copy- 
ing from the Greek, never transferred the name Petros, 
but changed it to Kepha 79 times and added Shemeun 
82 times ; or that the Greek scribe, copying from the 
Syriac, dropped Simon 82 times, and not only changed 
Kepha to Petros always, but added Petros 77 times? 
The Greek scribe must have done it ; but to remove all 
doubt, let motive turn the scale of probabilities. While 
the Syrian scribe had no conceivable motive for such ex- 
traordinary changes, a very powerful one is apparent on 
the part of the Greek scribe. Toward the close of the 
2d century Peter's name had become all prevalent and 
prominent in the Catholic or Romish church. A Gospel, 
therefore, without Peter in it as the leading Apostle, 
would have been like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left 
out. They had the " Apocalypse of Peter," the " Doc- 
trine of Peter," the " Preaching of Peter," the " Travels 
of Peter," the " Gospel according to Peter," the "Acts of 
Peter," and other books like the Clementine "Homilies " 
and " Recognitions," which told long and marvellous sto- 
ries about Peter ; so how could they tolerate the four 
Gospels and Acts with Kepha in them everywhere,- but 
no Peter ? To the Roman Catholics were entrusted the 
new^ divine Oracles, and that trust must not be betrayed 
by letting Saint Peter, the head of the church, sink out of 
sight. 

But it may be asked, is there no Peter in the Peshito ? 
Yes, the name occurs just twice, to wdt, in Acts i, 13, and 
in Peter i, 1. (The Syrians had no second Epistle.) How 
Peter got into the Syriac Acts of course no one now can 
tell ; it was certainly not by inspiration. But as to the 
Epistle of Peter, if it was originally written in Greek, we 
should expect to see the Syriac begin as it does : ''■JPetrus 



POSTSCEIPT ABOUT PETER. 141 

an Apostle of Jeshua Meshiha " — tlie name Petros being 
transferred, not translated. And we might also expect to 
find the title amended to read as it does : " Epistle of Pe- 
trus the Apostle, Shemeun Kepha'' But if, on the other 
hand, the Epistle was first written in Syriac, a later scribe 
must have changed Kepha to Petrus in this place, as also 
in Acts i, 13. 

But certainly, as regards the Gospels and Acts, the evi- 
dence is very strong that they were first written- in Syriac, 
or the spoken language of Palestine. And if so, what be- 
comes of Peter ? A Galilean Messiah makes a proselyte 
of a fisherman named Shemeun and rechristens him Ke- 
pha, saying that he wants to build a church on that Jcepha. 
So starts the story, which by degrees grows into a Gospel. 
By-and-by the Greek and Boman converts to the Messi- 
anic faith become acquainted with the Syrian legend, and 
wanting a Bock of their own on which to erect their church, 
they translate the Syriac Gospels into Greek, changing Ke- 
pha to Petros, and making Jesus talk Greek to his humble 
disciples ere they are endowed with the miraculous gift of 
tongues. 

Enough said. Good-by, Peter. 



CHAPTEB XXX. 

EUSEBIUS. 

To Eusebius, Bishop of Csesarea, on the coast of Pales- 
tine, from A. D. 315 to 340, we are indebted for nearly all 
we know of church history prior to his time. He wrote 
many books, but the most important of all is his Ecclesi- 
astical History. Every intelligent Freethinker ought to 
have it, (Bohn's edition, London, 430 pages, price 5 shil- 
lings.) A copy was recently ordered through the Har- 



142 EUSEBIUS. 

pers. Twice they wrote back that none could be found. 
The applicant then told them he would wait until it could 
be imported from " England or some other heathen coun- 
try." The result was, a stray copy was soon found in New 
York. Christian booksellers don't seem to be supplied 
with it, because clergymen don't want it. The " Age of 
Keason " is not much more obnoxious to them than their 
own only history of the primitive church ; and when their 
old Father's spectacles are presented to them, they sus- 
pect a double meaning in the name Eu-se-bi-us. 

At the very outset of his work Eusebius makes this 
startling confession and apology for it : 

' ' I freely confess it will crave indulgence, especially since, as the 
first of those that have entered upon the subject, we are attempting 
a kind of trackless and unbeaten path. Looking up with prayer to 
God as our guide, we trust indeed that we shall have the power of 
Christ as our aid, though we are totally unable to find even the bare 
vestiges of those who may have travelled the way before us ; unless, 
perhaps, what is only presented in the slight intimations which some 
in different ways have transmitted to us in certain partial narratives 

of the times in which they lived In the execution of this work 

we shall be happy to rescue from oblivion the successions, if not 

of all, at least of the most noted Apostles of our Lord; a labor 

which has appeared to me necessary in the highest degree, as I have 
not yet been able to find that any of the Ecclesiastical writers have 
directed their efforts to present anything complete in this depart- 
ment of writing." (B. i, ch. 1.) 

Alas ! how unfortunate that not even the " bare ves- 
tiges " of the history of the Apostles and their successors 
should have been discoverable when Christianity became 
the established religion of the Roman Empire ! Had Je- 
sus Chi-ist only written his own biography and recorded 
his own doctrines ; or had his Apostles been inspired to 
write history instead of working wonders ; or had their im- 
mediate successors given us facts instead of fancies, how 
soon might the song of triumph have been sung — 



EUSEBIUS. 143 

Behold tlie Gospel banner 

In every land unfurled, 
And hear the shout Hosanna 

Ke-echo through the world ! 

How might the pall of the Dark Ages have been averted, 
and how might believers, after 1800 years, have been 
saved the necessity of singing the humiliating missionary 
hymn — 

From many an ancient (holy) river, 
From many a palmy (sacred) plain, 

They call us (Christians) to deliver 

Their land from (heathen) error's chain ! 

But it was scarcely necessary for Eusebius to announce 
that out of the " slight intimations " contained in " partial 
narratives " he would select only what he deemed " advan- 
tageous to the proposed subject." His work itself is proof 
enough that he not only selected what was advantageous 
and rejected what was otherwise in those "partial [and 
fabulous] narratives," but that he did not scruple to sup- 
port Christianity by falsehood and forgery. Christian 
writers have not hesitated to brand him as a great falsi- 
fier, a wily sycophant, a consummate hypocrite, and a 
time-serving persecutor. He was a scholar and a courtier, 
an author and an orator, a bishop and a man of the world. 
He it was who wrote Constantine's Address to the Clergy, 
in which the Sibylline Acrostic is cited as proof positive 
of the divinity of Christ ; and he, too, doubtless approved, 
if he did not indite, the sentiment expressed by that Em- 
peror before the Nicene Council, that secret impurity 
would be less pernicious than public scandal ; and if he 
should happen to surprise a bishop in the act of adultery, 
he would cast his imperial mantle over the episcopal 
sinner. (Gibbon, ch. xx, at note 112.) Such clerical 
ethics seem to prevail even in our day, though less hon- 
ored in public avowal than in private practice. 



144 EUSEBIUS. 

There were three contemporary bishops named Euse- 
bius, and strange enough, all secretly or openly Arians. 
Eusebius of Nicomedia, Patriarch of Constantinople, died 
A. D. 342, having only the year before held an assembly of 
the church for the establishment of Arianism at Antioch. 
Eusebius of Emisa, a pupil of our historian, died a. d. 360, 
surviving his master 20 years. He is called by Jerome 
" the ring-leader of the Aiian party," but more probably 
•he was a semi-Arian, like his master, who was the head 
of that party in the Council of Nice, but was overborne 
by the young, ardent, and eloquent Athanasius, and was 
compelled (with a mental reservation) to subscribe to a 
Trinitarian creed. The Emperor was a friend to all three 
Eusebiuses. One baptized him, another went with him 
on his military expeditions, and the other wrote his bid'g- 
raphy, in which laudations like this are contained : 

" And God himself, whom Constantine worshipped, has confirmed 
this truth by the glorious manifestations of his will, being present 
to aid him at the commencement, during the course, and at the end 
of his reign, and holding him up to the human race as an exemplary 
pattern of Godliness. Accordingly, he has distinguished him alone 
of all the sovereigns of whom we have ever heard, by the manifest 
blessings he has conferred upon him, as at once a mighty luminary, 
a most distinguished. and powerful herald of genuine piety." (Life 
of Const., ch. iv.) 

A writer who could speak thus of that infamous Em- 
peror could hardly be trusted as a historian. And yet 
there is one charge brought against Eusebius that must 
be now retracted, to wit, that he himself forged the epis- 
tolary correspondence between Abgar, King of Edessa, 
and Jesus Christ. This letter of Jesus Christ used to be 
hung up in a frame with a picture before it, in the houses 
of the common people of England, and they generally re- 
garded it with as much devotion as they did the Word of 
God. It was appended to the Lord's Prayer and the 



EUSEBIUS. 145 

Apostles' Creed, and was cherished as a charm. This 
story of Abgar, with the accompanying letters, Eusebius 
professed to take from the archives of the kingdom of 
Edessa and translate word for word from the Aramaic 
into Greek. In 1841, 1843, and 1847 some Syriac manu- 
scripts were obtained from a monastery in Lower Egypt, 
which are evidently about as old as Eusebius, and among 
them is found the very story and letters that he has given 
us, and it is but just to say that Eusebius's translation 
substantially agrees with the Syriac documents. 

In the next chapter we will give the story and letters 
according to Eusebius, with slight corrections from the 
Syriac manuscripts. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
KING ABGAK AND JESUS CHKIST. 

Fob many years before the Christian era a portion of 
Northern Mesopotamia was ruled by a succession of to- 
parchs by the name of Avak-a-ir, meaning "great man," 
or as we Americans would say, " big Injun." The Syri- 
ans, being unable to pronounce the name well, called it 
Abgar, and the Greeks Abgaros, or, as Eusebius has it, 
Agbaros. The fourteenth sovereign of that name seems 
to have had a long reign, beginning a little before the 
birth of Christ and ending a few years after his death. 
About the middle of Abgar 's reign he built the town of 
Edessa, and made it his capital. The city is now known 
as Orfa, and contains about 40,000 inhabitants, 2,000 of 
whom are Armenian Christians. It is regarded by the 
Easterns as a sacred city, because they believe it to have 
been the residence of Abraham. It is distant from Jeru- 
salem about 500 miles. The petty kingdom lasted till 



146 KINO ABGAR AND JESUS CHRIST. 

A. D. 217, when it was absorbed by the Roman Empire. 
The story of Abgar's conversion to Christianity, as trans- 
lated by Eusebius from the Aramaic in the archives of 
Edessa, is rendered into Enghsh (Ante-Nicene Lib., vol. 
xx) as follows : 

When the Godhead of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ was being 
proclaimed among all men by reason of the astonishing mighty- 
works which he wrought, and myriads, even from countries remote 
from the land of Judea, who were afflicted with sickness and dis- 
eases of every kind, were coming to him in the hope of being 
healed, King Abgar, also, who was renowned among the nations of 
the east of the Euphrates for his valor, had his body wasting away 
with a grievous disease, such as there is no cure for among men. 
And when he heard and was informed of the name of Jesus, and 
about the mighty works which he did, (for every one alike bore 
witness concerning him, ) he sent a letter of request by a man be- 
longing to him, and besought him to come and heal him of his 
disease. 

But our Savior at the time that he asked him did not comply with 
his request. Yet he deigned to give him a letter in reply ; for he 
promised him that he would send one of his disciples, and heal his 
sickness, and give salvation to all who were connected with him. 
Nor did he delay to fulfil his promise to him ; but after he was risen 
from the place of the dead, and was received into Heaven, Thomas 
the Apostle, one of the twelve, as by an impulse from God, sent 
Thaddeus, who was himself also numbered among the seventy dis- 
ciples of Christ, to Edessa, to be a preacher and proclaimer of the 
teaching of Christ; and the promise of Christ was through him 
fulfilled. 

Thou hast in writing the evidence of these things, which is taken 
from the Book of Kecords which was at Edessa ; for at that time 
the kingdom was still standing. In the documents, then, which 
were kept there, in which was contained whatever was done by 
those of old down to the time of Abgar, these things also are found 
preserved down to the present hour. There is, however, nothing 
to prevent our hearing the very letters themselves, which have been 
taken by us from the archives, and are in words to this effect, trans- 
lated from Aramaic into Greek. 

Copy of the letter which was written by King Abgar to Jesus, 



KING ABGAR AND JESUS CHBIST. 147 

and sent to him by tlie hand of Hananias, the Tabularius, to Jeru- 
salem : 

" Abgar the Black, sovereign of the country, to Jesus, the good 
Savior, who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem : Peace. I 
have heard about thee, and about the healing which is wrought by 
thy hands without drugs and roots. For, as it is reported, thou 
makest the blind to see, and the lame to walk ; and thou cleansest 
the lepers, and thou castest out unclean spirits and demons, and 
thou healest those who are tormented with lingering diseases, and 
thou raisest the dead. And when I heard all these things about 
thee, I settled in my mind one of two things : either that thou art 
God, who hast come down from Heaven and doest these things, or 
thou art the Son of God and doest these things. On this account, 
therefore, I have written to beg of thee that thou wouldst weary thy- 
self to come to me and heal this disease which I have ; [and not only 
so,] for I have also heard that the Jews murmur against thee, and 
wish to do thee harm. But I have a city, small and beautiful, 
which is sufficient for two." 

Copy of those things which were written [in reply] by Jesus by 
the hand of Hananias, the Tabularius, to Abgar, sovereign of the 
country : 

" Blessed is he that believed in me, not having seen me. For it 
is written concerning me, that those who see me will not believe in 
me, and that those will believe who have not seen me, and will be 
saved. But touching that which thou hast written to me, that I 
should come to thee, it is meet that I should finish here all that for 
the sake of which I have been sent ; and, after I have finished it, 
then I shall be taken up to him that sent me ; and when I have 
been taken up, I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may 
heal thy disease, and give salvation to thee and those who are 
with thee." 

To these letters, moreover, is appended the following, also in the 
Aramaic tongue : 

After Jesus was ascended, Judas Thomas sent to him Thaddeus 
the Apostle, one of the seventy. And when he was come he lodged 
with Tobias, son of Tobias. And when the news about him was 
heard, they made it known to Abgar : ' ' The Apostle of Jesus is 
come hither, as he sent thee word. " Thaddeus, moreover, began 
to heal every disease and sickness by the power of God, so that all 
men were amazed. And when Abgar heard the great and marvel- 
lous cures which he had wrought, he bethought himself that he was 
the person about whom Jesus had sent him word, and said to him : 
"When I have been taken up I will send to thee one of my disciples, 
that he may heal thy disease." So he sent and called Tobias, with 



148 KING ABGAR AND JESUS CHRIST. 

whom he was lodging, and said to him : "I have heard that a 
mighty man has come and has entered in and taken up his lodging 
in thy house ; bring him up therefore to me." And when Tobias 
came to Thaddeus he said to him : " Abgar the King has sent and 
called me, and commanded me to bring thee up to him, that thou 
mayest heal him. " And Thaddeus said : "I will go up, because to 
him I have been sent with power." Tobias therefore rose up early 
next day and took Thaddeus and came to Abgar. 

Now when they were come up, his princes happened to be stand- 
ing there. And immediately, as he was entering in, a great vision 
appeared to Abgar on the countenance of Thaddeus the Apostle. 
And when Abgar saw Thaddeus he prostrated himself before him. 
And astonishment seized upon all who were standing there ; for 
they had not themselves seen that vision, which appeared to Abgar 
alone. And he proceeded to ask Thaddeus : ' ' Art thou in truth the 
disciple of Jesus the Son of God, who said to me, I will send to 
thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thee and give thee sal- 
vation ?" And Thaddeus answered and said : "Because thou hast 
mightily believed on him that sent me, therefore have I been sent 
to thee ; and again, if thou shalt believe on him, thou shalt have 
the requests of thy heart. " And Abgar said to him : "In such wise 
have I believed on him that I have even desired to take an army and 
extirpate those Jews who crucified him, were it not that I was re- 
strained by reason of the dominion of the Romans." And Thad- 
deus said : " Our Lord has fulfilled the will of his Father ; and hav- 
ing fulfilled it, has been taken up to his Father." Abgar said to 
him : "I too have believed in him and in his Father." And Thad- 
deus said : " Therefore do I lay my hand upon thee in his name." 

And when he had done this, immediately he was healed of his 
sickness and of the disease which he had. And Abgar marvelled, 
because like as he had heard concerning Jesus, so he saw in deeds 
wrought by the hand of Thaddeus his disciple, since without druga 
and roots he healed him ; and not only him, but also Abdu, son of 
Abdu, who had the gout ; for he too went in and fell at his feet, 
and when he prayed over him he was healed. And many, other 
people of their city did he heal, and he did great works and 
preached the word of God. 

After these things Abgar said to him: "Thou, Thaddeus, doest 
these things by the power of God ; we also marvel at them. But 
in addition to all these things, I beg of thee to relate to me the story 



KING ABGAR AND JESUS CHRIST. 149 

about tlie coming of Christ, and in what manner it was, and about 
his power, and by what power he wrought those things of which 
I have heard." 

And Thaddeus said : ' ' For the present I will be silent ; but be- 
cause I have been sent to preach the word of God, assemble me to- 
morrow all the people of the city, and I will preach before them and 
sow amongst them the word of life, and tell them about the coming 
of Christ, how it took place, and about his mission, for what pur- 
pose he was sent by his Father, and about his power and his deeds, 
and about the mysteries which he spake in the world, and by what 
power he wrought these things, and about his new preaching, and 
about his abasement and his humiliation, .and how he humbled and 
emptied and abased himself, and was crucified and descended to 
Hades, and broke through the enclosure which had never been 
broken through before, and raised up the dead, and descended 
alone, and ascended with a great multitude to his Father." 

Abgar therefore commanded that in the morning all the people 
of his city should assemble and hear the preaching of Thaddeus. 
And afterwards he commanded gold and silver to be given to him, but 
lie received it not, and said : " If we have forsaken that which was 
our own, how shall we accept that of others ?" 

These things were done in the year 340 [of the kingdom of the 
Greeks, i. e., a. d. 29.] 

Here ends the story as given by Eusebius, but there is 
an entertaining sequel to it contained in the recently-dis- 
covered Syriac documents, of which we will prepare an 
abridgment, after having made a few critical comments on 
the foregoing storv. 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 

COMMENTS ON THE FOREGOING STOET. 

The story upon its face bears evidence of a priestly 
fraud. And yet there are learned scholars even at this 
day who profess to believe it to be substantially true. 
The late Dr. Cureton spent the closing years of his life 



150 COMMENTS ON THE STOKY OF ABGAR. 

in studying and preparing for publication such portions 
of the ancient Syriac manuscripts lately acquired by the 
British Museum as related to Christianity. He was the 
first to find among them " a considerable portion of the 
original Aramaic document which Eusebius cites as pre- 
served in the archives of Edessa," and this, confirmed by 
other testimonies relating to the same matter, seemed 
sufficient in his opinion " to establish the fact of the early 
conversion of the inhabitants of that city, and among them 
the King himself, although his successors afterwards re- 
lapsed into Paganism." Dr. Cureton "was firmly per- 
suaded," says the editor of his posthumous work, " of the 
genuineness of the Epistles attributed to Abgar, King of 
Edessa, and our Lord : an opinion which he shared with 
such illustrious scholars as Baronius, Tillemont, Cave, K. 
Montague, (Bishop of Norwich,) and Grabe." With 
such an array of scholars in favor of the genuineness of 
the letters, it behooves us to meet the question with 
something besides ridicule. 

The visit of Thaddeus is said to have occurred in the 
year 340, ^. e., of the kingdom of the Greeks, as appears 
in the sequel to this story. The year 340 of the Edes- 
sians, says Dr. Cureton, corresponds with the 15th year 
of Tiberius. So also says Valesius, in a note appended 
to the same story in Eusebius, and he adds that in this 
15th year of Tiberius many of the ancients believed in 
our blessed Savior suffered and ascended. Therefore, if 
this Syriac statement is true, Jesus Christ was crucified 
as early as a. d. 29. This was the date formerly set, and 
Gibbon wondered how the Churchmen of his time came 
to fix a later year. The reason for the change is obvious. 
When Jesus was baptized Luke says he began to be about 
30 years of age, and according to John's Gospel .his minis- 
try embraced at least three annual passovers, which brings. 



COMMENTS ON THE STORY OF ABGAK. 151 

the crucifixion down to 32, or later. But in spite of John's 
prolongation of Christ's ministry, we now have in these 
Syriac documents the very best evidence that the date of 
the crucifixion was not later than a. d. 29. 

According to this story, Thomas the Apostle sent to 
Edessa Thaddeus, who, though " one of the seventy," is 
also called an Apostle. Passing over the discrepancy 
in the name of Thomas, who is also here called Judas 
Thomas, it is very suspicious that the Thaddeus whom 
he sent to Edessa should be called an Apostle, and yet 
not the Apostle Thaddeus mentioned in the Gospels. 

In the letter of Jesus he says, " For it is written con- 
cerning me that those who see me will not believe in me, 
and that those will believe who have not seen me, and will 
be saved." No such passage can be found in the Scrip- 
tures, either canonical or apocryphal, now extant. If such 
a passage ever existed, it has been lost more than 1,500 
years, and there is no evidence that it ever could have 
been regarded as Scripture. How unfortunate that in the 
only scrap that Jesus is ever supposed to have written, 
except what he traced on the ground with his finger, he 
should have made a false Scripture quotation ! 

But further, the character of the pretended quotation 
is in keeping with all the early Christian literature — that 
is, an attempt to prove the divinity of Christ by prophetic 
writings. It is silly enough for the Fathers to resort to 
this as their strongest proof of their Lord's divinity, but 
for the Son of God himself to do it, and withal not to 
convince a Hebrew, but a heathen, caps the climax of ab- 
surdity. 

Jesus makes no secret of his ascension in his letter to 
the heathen king, while all the time he withholds it from 
his chosen disciples. He ventures only to tell them that 
he is to be killed and to be raised again, (Mark viii, 31 j 



152 COMMENTS ON THE STORY OF ABGAR. 

Matt, xvi, 21,) but " they understood none of these things, 
and this saying was hid from them," (Luke xviii, 33, 34 ;) 
and Peter, waxing wroth at his Master for forboding such 
a disaster, boastingly declares that it "shall not be," 
(Matt, xvi, 22.) And when the report of his resurrection 
comes to the ears of his disciples it seems to them as an 
idle tale, (Luke xxiv, 11,) so incredulous are they of such a 
miracle ; "for as yet they knew not the Scripture that he 
must arise again from the dead." (John xx, 9.) The idea 
of an ascension had not been communicated to the cho- 
sen twelve, and yet the Jewish Messiah, whose mission 
was not to the Gentiles, but " to the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel," (Matt, x, 5, 6,) writes to a far-off Gen- 
tile King, not only foretelling his ascension, but flatter- 
ing him with a hope of salvation for believing in an un- 
seen Savior, while those who are favored with a sight of 
the Son of God are coolly placed in the category of lost 
sinners ! 

Abgar seems to have been an easy convert. At a dis- 
tance of 500 miles from Jerusalem he hears of the fame 
of Jesus, and from the reports of his mighty works, all 
done in the space of a few months at most, he believes at 
once. It is as if Black Hawk, hearing of the doings of Jo 
Smith, should forthwith have become a believer in Mor- 
monism. In a few months Thaddeus comes to Edessa, 
and having healed the King by the power of Christ, the 
conversion of his Majesty is completed, and the petty 
Mesopotamian King, instead of the Emperor Constantine, 
becomes the first royal convert. But the important event 
is hidden from the world, being locked up in the archives 
of Edessa, until Eusebius in the 4th century happens to 
find the historical (?) document. In the meantime Abgar's 
successors all lapse into heathenism, as the sequel shows, 
and continue pagans for more than one hundred years. 



COMMENTS ON THE STORY OF ABGAR. 153 

But further and stronger reasons for discrediting the 
story in every particular, will appear as we proceed to 
give a compendium of the other Syriac documents pro- 
cured from the same source as this one, and in fact inti- 
mately connected therewith. 



CHAPTER XXXIII, 

MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

The story of King Abgar and Jesus Christ, as given by 
Eusebius, breaks off at a point where Thaddeus declines 
to take the King's money. A mutilated Syriac document 
continues the narrative a little further. The first part 
of the story is missing in this manuscript, but what we 
have of it agrees so literally with the version of Eusebius 
that if it be not, as Dr. Cureton claims, "the original 
Aramaic document which Eusebius cites," it is at all events 
an early copy of the same story. It has a few variations 
from Eusebius's version, and consists of a single leaf, 
making only two printed pages in English ; but for- 
tunately the remainder of the story is supplied from 
another Syriac manuscript procured by the Abbot Moses 
at Bagdad in the year 931, which appears to be of the 6th 
century. Both these documents have Addeus instead of 
Thaddeus. Resuming the narrative at a point near the 
end of what has been already given, it reads as follows : 

"And Abgar commanded them to give Addeus silver and gold. 
Addeus said to him, ' How can we receive that which is not ours ? 
For lo ! that which was ours have we forsaken, as we were com- 
manded by our Lord ; because without purses and without scrips, 
bearing the cross upon our shoulders, were we commanded to preach 
his Gospel in the whole creation, of whose crucifixion, which was 
for our sakes, for the redemption of all men, the whole creation 
was sensible and suffered pain.' " 



164 MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

Eusebius has given us only a sentence or two of the 
above, prefaced by another sentence not found in our 
document, to Avit : " Abgar therefore commanded that in 
the morning all the people of his city should assemble 
and hear the preaching of Thaddeus." But this is mani- 
festly only a bare statement of what follows. Thaddeus 
delivers a long discourse before the royal family, the 
court, and the people of the town, which is pretty fully 
reported to us by the King's scribe, as is attested at the 
end of the story, though it reads like the work of a priest 
of the 3d century. After relating the signs, wonders, and 
ascension, all details of which the reporter omits, Thad- 
deus tells them that Christ is coming again, when a 
general resurrection will take place and the righteous will 
be separated from the wicked, the sheep from the goats, 
the few from the many. Speaking of the crucifixion, he 



"For though ye were not present at the time of Christ's suffering, 
yet from the sun which was darkened and which ye saw, learn ye 
and understand concerning the great convulsion which took place 
at that time, when he was crucified whose Gospel has winged its 
way through all the earth by the signs which his disciples, my fel- 
lows, do in all the earth. Yea, those who were Hebrews and knew 
only the language of the Hebrews, in which they were born, lo ! at 
this day are speaking in all languages, in order that those who are 
afar off may hear and believe, even as those who are near. For he 
it is that confounded the tongues of the presumptuous in this region 
who were before us [Babel;] and he it is that teaches at this day 
the faith of truth and verity by us, humble and despicable men of 
Galilee and Palestine. For I also whom ye see am from Paneas 
[Cassarea Paneas, now Baneas,] from the place where the river Jor- 
dan issues forth, and I was chosen together with my fellows to be 
a preacher." 

This discourse is delivered immediately after the arrival 
of Thaddeus at Edessa, a. d. 29, according to the date 
given and accepted by Orthodox authority. It could not. 



MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 155 

have been more than a year at most after the alleged 
crucifixion ; and yet in that short interval we are here 
told that by the preaching of a fevsr disciples the " Gospel 
has winged its way through all the earth." Edessa was 
at this time outside of the Roman Empire, whose domain 
extended 3,000 miles east and west by 1,500 north and 
south. Must we not suppose that these fellows were 
endowed not only with a supernatui'al gift of tongueSy 
but with a miraculous mode of locomotion ? 

Passing over a considerable portion of the sermon, we 
come to this sentence : 

** For lo ! some even of the children of the crucifiers are become 
at this day preachers and evangelists with my fellow Apostles, in all 
the land of Palestine, and among the Samaritans, and in aU the 
country of the Philistines ; the idols also of Paganism are despised^ 
and the cross of Christ is honored, and all nations and creatures 
confess God who became man." 

Here certainly is a screw loose in the chronology. In 
the year of our Lord 29 " the children of the crucifiers 
are become preachers and evangelists, .... and all nations 
and creatures confess God who became man ! " 

Thaddeus then exhorts his hearers to believe the Gos- 
pel of Christ, so that the promise which Christ sent to 
them may be fulfilled, to wit : 

"Blessed are ye that have beUeved in me, not having seen me • 
and because ye Im/ce so believed in me the town in which ye dwell shall 
be blessed, and the enemy shall not prevail against it forever. " 

Here is an embarrassing point for the believers in the 
authenticity of this story. Thaddeus, in attempting to 
quote from the letter of Jesus to Abgar, interpolates what 
is indicated above in italics. Dr. Cureton tries to explain 
the discrepancy by supposing that the words are '" either 
a message brought by Thaddeus himself, or much more 
probably a later interpolation ; earlier however than 



156 MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

Ephraem Syr us, who alludes to them in his Testament." 
Antichrist has an easier solution of the difficulty, namely, 
that the whole story is a fabrication of the 2d or 3d cen- 
tury, as all the circumstances tend to prove. If Ephraem 
Syrus of the 4th century knew of a version containing 
the above italicised words, how singular it is that in the 
two versions that have come down to us, (one through 
Moses of Chorene, 5th century,) and which agree most 
literally, there is no, such clause ! Only think of the Son 
of God bribing the people of Edessa to believe on him, 
by promising to save their town forever from destruction 
by the enemy ! 

At the close of his discourse Thaddeus says, "Let 
those who have accepted the word of Christ remain with 
us, and those also who are willing to join with us in 
prayer." Public prayer has been a vital and indispensa- 
ble element of all religious systems except that instituted 
by Christ. He enjoined only secret prayer, and rebuked 
those who prayed at the corners of the streets and in the 
synagogues. How could Thaddeus have dared to con- 
travene the express injunctions of his Lord 1 Nay, more, 
with what audacity have the priesthood in all ages made 
public prayer a paramount Christian duty, when Christ 
himself never once prayed in public, but on the contrary ' 
denounced those who do it as hypocrites ! 

Such was the effect of Thaddeus's discourse that " all 
the city rejoiced in his teaching, men and women alike, 
saying to him, ' True and faithful is Christ who sent thee 
to us ; ' " and the King, Queen, and their two sons, Maanu 
and Angustin, were numbered among the converts. Dr. 
Cureton in a note here says that Abgar had two sons of 
the name of Maanu, and this one, probably, was the elder 
who succeeded his father at Edessa and reigned seven 
years. But Moses of Chorene, an Armenian author of the 



MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 157 

5th century, in bis " History of Armenia," says that " after 
the death of Abgar the kingdom of Armenia was divided 
between two: Ananoun, Abgar's son, reigned at Edessa, 
and his sister's son, Sanadroug, in Armenia." (Ch. xxxiv.) 

The King now told Thaddeus to proceed and build a 
church, saying that he was " prepared to give large dona- 
tions " in order that those engaged in the work of the 
Lord " might not have any other Avork beside the minis- 
try." He promised to honor Thaddeus's drafts for build- 
ing purposes "without restriction," and to allow him to 
come, as one in authority, alone into the presence of his 
royal Majesty. A church was accordingly built, and in it 
were offered "vows and oblations." 

Being asked by two of the chief men and rulers how 
Christ, being God, appeared to his disciples as a man, 
and how they were able to look upon him, Thaddeus 
" proceeded to satisfy them all about this," but in what 
way he satisfied them we are not told, except that he re- 
peated before them " everything that the prophets had 
spoken concerning him." That is about all that the 
earliest writers tell us concerning a historical Christ, and 
is all we are permitted to know. 

"But neither did King Abgar, nor yet the Apostle Addeus, com- 
pel any man by force to believe in Christ, because without the force 
of man the force of the signs compelled many to believe in him." 

What lamb-like gentleness ! Only signs and wonders 
were required in Apostolic times to compel belief ; but 
when in after times signs and wonders failed, royal and 
papal edicts, with a realizing sense of a power behind the 
throne, seemed to be the only effectual means of saving 
souls. 

Thaddeus employed a number of clerical assistants, four 
of whose names are given. One was Aggeus, a manufac- 
turer of silk head-bands. One of the duties of these 



158 MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

associate pastors, we are told, was " to read in the Old 
Testament and the New, and in the Prophets, and in the 
Acts of the Apostles." Here is an anachronism which 
Dr. Cureton tries to rectify by saying that as no other 
part of the New Testament was in existence at this time 
than the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, this is probably 
what is meant. Yea, verily ! the Gospel of Matthew in 
Hebrew read for the edification of Pagan converts in 
Mesopotamia! Thaddeus died, as Dr. Cureton thinks, 
about A. D. 40, and the earliest date now claimed for the 
writing of Matthew's Gospel is a. d. 64. Nevertheless, 
that or some other part of the New Testament is said to 
have been in use at Edessa between the years 29 and 40 ! 
Perhaps Thaddeus sent to Judea and elsewhere and ob- 
tained from Matthew, Mark, and Luke advance sheets of 
their Gospels, but as the book of Acts was not completed 
till about A. D. 64, when the events therein narrated ter- 
minate, Thaddeus must have had to content himself with 
only a fragment of the first part of that book. 

In view of these difficulties. Dr. Cureton suggests that 
" the compiler of this account wrote some years subse- 
quently to the events which he relates, or that it has been 
added by a later interpolator." But at the close of the 
document the writer's name is given as Labubna, the 
King's scribe, who says that according to the custom 
which existed in the kingdom, and by command of King 
Abgar himself, he committed these things to writing and 
deposited the same, attested by the seal of the proper 
officer, among the records of the kings. 

But a still worse anachronism presently appears in the 
statement that these priests read not only from the Old 
Testament but from *' the New of the Diatessaron." Dr. 
Cureton is not quite certain, but thinks the word is Dia- 
tessaron, referring to a work " which Tatian, the Syrian, 



MINISTBY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 159 

compiled from the four Gospels (!) about the middle 
of the 2d century." (Between a. d. 170 and 180. Sup. 
Rel.) "If this be so," says Dr. C, "we have here a later 
interpolation." Yes. call it all a late interpolation, and 
you will probably be nearest the truth. 

The mention of the observance of " the festivals of the 
church in their seasons," and of ■' the vigils every day," 
is incompatible with a system founded on the teachings 
of Christ within the first decade after his death. Nor is 
it credible that people from Assyria, " in the guise of 
merchants," became disciples, and received from Thad- 
deus " ordination to the priesthood," and on their return 
to their own country " erected houses of prayer there in 
secret, by reason of the danger from those who wor- 
shipped fire and paid reverence to water." 

But now comes a still more incredible statement : 
" Mdreover, Narses, the King of the Assyrians, when he heard 
of those same things which Addeus the Apostle had done, sent a 
message to Abgar the King : ' Either despatch to me the man who 
doeth these things before thee, that I may see him and hear his 
word, or send me an account of all that thou hast seen him do in 
thy own town. ' And Abgar wrote to Narses, and related to him 
the whole story of the deeds of Addeus from the beginning to the 
end, and he left nothing which he did not write to him. And when 
Narses heard those things which were written to him, he was aston- 
ished and amazed." 

It SO happens that Moses of Chorene has transmitted 
to us what purports to be a copy of the aforesaid letter to 
the Assyrian King at Babylon, and this is all it contains 
about " the whole story of Addeus," or anything pertain- 
ing thereto : 

"But as to what you write to me about sending you the physician 
who works miracles and preaches another God superior to fire and 
water, that you may see and hear him, I say to you : he is not a 
physician according to the art of men ; he is a disciple of the Son 
of God, Creator of fire and water 5 he has been appointed and sent 



160 MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

to the countries of Armenia. But one of his principal companions, 
named Simon, is sent into the countries of Persia. Seek for him 
and you will hear him, you as well as your father Ardaches. He 
will heal all your diseases and will show you the way of life." 

Great heavens ! Behold Simon Kepha, alias Peter, 
away off in Persia before a. d. 40. He has travelled from 
Jiidea through Syria, Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Media 
into Persia, a journey of more than fifteen hundred miles, 
and there the Babylonian King is told to seek for him. 
Perhaps he did seek and find him, and thus by royal 
favor Simon established a church at Babylon, from whence 
the first Epistle of Peter, or rather Shemeun Kepha, was 
written. (1 Pet., v, 13.) This, after all, may be some- 
thing more than a bald fiction, for another letter from Ab- 
gar to the King of Persia is given by Moses of Chorene, 
in which the statement is repeated that " Simon is in his 
Majesty's territories." For even if these letters are a for- 
gery of the 2d or 3d century, there is no evidence of the 
existence of the first Epistle of Peter prior to the middle 
of the 2d century ; and whenever it may have been writ- 
ten, it is far more likely that the salutation at the close 
from " the church at Babylon," means Babylon on the 
Euphrates, than the mystic Babylon on the Tiber, as the 
churchmen strive to interpret it. 

Returning to our story, the next thing we find is, that 
Abgar, not being permitted to pass over Roman territory 
to punish the Jews for killing Christ, wrote a letter to 
Tiberius Caesar. As we have two copies of the letter, let 
us place them side by side and see how they agree. The 
first version is by King Abgar's scribe, and the second by 
Moses, a historian of the 5th century. In order to make 
plain the discrepancies, we have italicised the more im- 
portant parts in each one not contained in the other : 



MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 



161 



" Abgar, King of Armenia^ to 
my Lord Tiberius, Emjperor of 
the Romans, greeting: I know 
that nothing is unknown to your 
Majesty, but as your friend, I 
would make you better acquaint- 
ed with the facts by writing. 
The Jews who dwell in the can- 
tons of Palestine have crucified 
Jesus: Jesus without sin, Jesus 
after so many acts of kindness, 
so many wonders and miracles 
wrought for their good, even to 
the raising of the dead. Be as- 
sured that these are not the effects 
of the potoer of a simple mortal, 
hut of God. During the time 
that they were crucifying him 
the sun was darkened, the earth 
was moved, shaken ; Jesus him- 
self, three days afterwards, rose 
from the dead and appeared to 
many. Noio, everywhere his name 
alone, invoked hy his disciples, 
produces the greatest miracles: 
what has ha/ppened to myself is 
the most evident proof of it. Your 
august Majesty knows hence- 
forth what ought to be done in 
future with respect to the Jew- 
ish nation, which has committed 
this crime. Your Majesty knows 
whether a command should not 
he published through the whole 
universe to worship Christ as the 
true Ood. Safety and health.'' 

The word Christ, which occurs but once in the first 
version, is changed to Jesus in the second, where it is re- 
peated three times in quick succession. The trembling 
and shrinking away of all creation and its inhabitants is 
omitted in the second version. The latter version inter- 
polates an argumentative assurance that Jesus must have 
been God. Then it interpolates a statement about the 
resurrection of Jesus after three days, and his appearance 
to many. Also a statement that the bare invocation of 
his name by his disciples produces the greatest miracles, 



*' King Abgar to our Lord Ti- 
berius Ccesar : Although I know 
that nothing is hidden from thy 
Majesty, I write to inform thy 
dread and mighty sovereignty 
that the Jews who are under thy 
dominion and dwell in the coun- 
try of Palestine have assembled 
themselves together and cruci- 
fied Christ without any fault 
worthy of death, after he had 
done before them signs and won- 
ders, and had shown them pow- 
erful mighty-works, so that he 
even raised the dead to life for 
them ; and at the time they cru- 
cified him the sun became dark- 
ened and the earth also quaked, 
and all created things trembled 
and quaked, and, as if of them- 
selves, at this deed the ichole crea- 
tion and the inhabitants of tlie 
creation shrank away. And now 
thy Majesty knoweth what is 
meet for thee to command con- 
cerning the people of the Jews 
who have done these things. " 



162 



MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 



and an appeal to Abgar's own case as an illustration. 
And finally it has a suggestion to Tiberius to compel by- 
royal command the worship of Christ as the true God. 

But still worse discrepancies appear in the two versions 
of the answer of Tiberius : 

"The letter of thy FideHty 
towards me I have received, and 
it hath been read before me. 
Concerning what the Jews have 
dared to do in the matter of the 
cross, Pilate the governor also 
has written and informed Aul- 
binus, my proconsul, concerning 
these self-same things of which 
thou hast written to me. But, 
because a war with the people 
of Spain, who have rebelled 
against me, is on foot at this 
time, on this account I have not 
been able to avenge this matter ; 
but I am prepared, when I shall 
have leisure, to issue a command" 
according to law against the 
Jews, who act not according to 
law. And on this account as re- 
gards Pilate also, who was ap- 
pointed by me governor there, I 
have sent another in his stead and 
dismissed him in disgrace, because 
he departed from the law and did 
the will of the Jews, and for the 
gratification of the Jews cruci- 
fied Christ, who, according to 
what I hear concerning him, 
instead of suffering the cross of 
death, deserved to be honored 
and worshipped by them : and 
more especially because with their 
own eyes they saw everything that 
Tie did. . Yet thou, in accordance 
with thy fidelity towards me, and 
the faithful covenant entered into 
by thyself and by thyfathefrs, hast 
done well in writing to me thus." 

How little of the two versions coincides ! As in the 

former case, the first of these has Christ once, while the 

second has Jesus three times. The important statement 



' ' Your kind letter has been 
read to me, and I wish that 
thanks should be given to you 
from me. Though we had already 
heard several persons relate these 
facts, Pilate has officially in- 
formed us of the miracles of Je- 
sus. He^ certified to us that after 
his resurrection from the dead he 
was acknowledged by many to be 
God. Therefore I myself also 
wished to do what you propose, 
but as it is the custom of the Mo- 
mans not to admit a god merely 
by tlm command of the sovereign, 
but only when the admission has 
been discussed and examined in 
full Senate, I proposed the affair 
to the Senate, and they rejected it 
with contempt, doubtless because 
it had not been considered by 
them first. But loe have com- 
manded all those whom Jesus 
suits, to receive him amongst the 
gods. We have threatened with 
death any one who shall speak 
evil of the Christians. As to the 
Jewish nation which has dared 
to crucify Jesus, who, as I hear, 
far from deserving the cross and 
death, was worthy of honor, wor- 
thy of the adoration of men, 
when I am free from the war 
with rebellious Spain, I will ex- 
amine into the matter and will 
treat the Jews as they deserve." 



MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 163 

in the first version that Pilate had been dismissed in dis- 
grace for ordering the crucifixion is not contained in the 
second. On the other hand, the second version contains 
the following new statements : 1. That after the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus he was acknowledged by many to be God. 
2. That Tiberius himself also wished to do what Abgar 
had suggested, namely, command the worship of Jesus 
as a God, and had even submitted the proposition to the 
Senate, but they had rejected it with contempt because 
it did not originate with them. 3. That Tiberius had 
nevertheless commanded believers in Jesus to receive 
him amongst the Gods, (a brilliant idea — like command- 
ing water to run down hill!) and had threatened with 
death any one who should speak evil of the Christians ! 

We read in Acts that the disciples were first called 
Christians at Antioch about a. d. 43 ; but here is a letter 
in which the word is used, purporting to have been writ- 
ten by the Emperor Tiberius, who died a. d. 37. And as 
the circumstances show that it was not many months 
prior to the Emperor's death, the news of the crucifixion 
contained in the letter must have been about eight years 
old! 

In the first version Albinus is mentioned as proconsul. 
Not till A. D. 62, in the reign of Nero, was there a Gov- 
ernor of Judea named Albinus. In another of these 
Syriac documents, the " Exit of Mary," it is stated that 
Sabina (Sabinus) was procurator under Tiberius, with 
jurisdiction as far as the Euphrates. But that is not 
true. Vitellius was Governor of Syria between a. d. 35 
and 39, and removed Pilate from the administration of 
Judea ; therefore Dr. Cureton says that the person named 
as Albinus can only be Vitellius ! Hear ! Hear ! 

But how about the war with Spain spoken of in both 
versions ? No mention of snch a war is made by any his- 



164 MINISTKY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

torian. So Dr. Cureton gets over the difficulty by sup- 
posing that as " Vitellius about this time was mixed up 
with the wars of the Parthians and Hiberians, and as 
Hiberi is a name common to Spaniards as well as Hiberi- 
ans, the apparent error may have arisen in translating the 
letter out of Latin into Syriac." But the same error 
must also have been made by the Armenian scribe in the 
other version. Moreover the people of Hiberi, or Iberi, 
on the Caspian sea, were at this time beyond the Roman 
jurisdiction; how, then, could they "rebel" against 
Tiberius 1 

This letter from Tiberius is said to have been sent by 
one Aristides, who returned with suitable presents to the 
Emperor from Abgar. In returning he is said to have 
stopped at Thicuntha, an unknown place, and to have 
reached Tiberius at Artica. This, Dr. Cureton thinks, 
may be intended for Ortygia, near Syracuse, which he 
says was not far from the Island of Caprese, where Tibe- 
rius then resided. Then Aristides related before Tiberius 
the mighty works which Thaddeus had done. "And 
when Tiberius had leisure from the war, he sent and put 
to death some of the chief men of the Jews in Palestine," 
for which merited punishment King Abgar " rejoiced 
greatly." 

All this journey of Aristides to Edessa and back was 
begun and ended before Pilate, who had been recalled, 
was able to reach Rome ; for when he got there Tiberius 
was dead. In other words, Aristides travelled at least 
three times as fast as Pilate did, whose recall would seem 
to have required him to make haste home, while the for- 
mer, being charged with the delivery of an answer to a 
letter that seemed to have been seven or eight years in 
coming, could have appropriately adopted the motto of 



MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEX^. 165 

the preceding Emperor Augustus, Festina lente — " make 
haste slowly." 

Such was the progress of the Gospel at Edessa that 
churches were soon built in the adjacent villages and ad- 
ministered by deacons and elders. But in due course of 
time Thaddeus, being taken sick and about to die, ap- 
pointed Aggeus, the manufacturer of royal head-bands, 
Guide and Ruler in his stead. The title of Bishop {epis- 
copos) had not yet obtained in that region. Thaddeus in 
his last hours especially enjoined upon his people to 
" have no fellowship with the Jews, the crucifiers." But 
the Jews of Edessa must have cherished a more tolerant 
spirit, for it is said that his death was bitterly mourned 
not only by the Christians, (here again this word occurs 
about A. D. 40,) but by the Jews also. No one lamented 
the Apostle's death more than Abgar, who showed his 
grief by ordering a grand funeral, and Thaddeus, who 
*' possessed not anything in this world," was "buried like 
one of the princes, with great and surpassing pomp, in a 
grand sepulchre adorned with sculpture." 

Aggeus, like his priestly predecessor, refused all gifts ; 
"instead of receiving gold and silver, he himself enriched 
the church of Christ with the souls of believers." The 
church-members, both male and female, " Hved like ancho- 
rites," and their conduct was so chaste and holy that 
" even the [Pagan] priests of the house of Nebu and Bel 
divided the honor with them at all times." That is, the 
Christians adapted their new religion to the times, and 
affiliated with the worshippers of many gods ; because, in 
spite of the previous allegation that Christianity had be- 
come the State religion and was embraced by all the peo- 
ple, it seems that all the while there were priests of Nebu 
and Bel who " divided the honor " with the priests of 
Christ. 



166 MflENISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

King Abgar did not long survive his Apostolic pastor. 
He died, says Dr. Cureton, a. d. 45, and as the ministry 
of Thaddeus is supposed by Dr. C to have lasted about 
ten or eleven years, the Apostle must have died five or 
six years before the King — i. e., about a. d. 40, as here- 
tofore stated. Abgar v^^as succeeded by one of his sons, 
but which one or v\rhat his name was we are left in doubt. 
Moses of Chorene says it was Ananoun, but Dr. Cureton 
says it must have been Maanu — that Abgar had two sons 
of that name, and that "the elder probably succeeded 
his father at Edessa and reigned seven years." Our 
document names two sons, Maanu and Augustin, and 
now near the close of it we read as follows : 

"And some years after the death of Abgar the King, there arose 
one of his contumacious sons, who was not favorable to peace ; and 
he sent word to Aggeus as he was sitting in the church : ' Make me a 
head-band of gold, such as thou usedst to make for my fathers in 
former times.' And Aggeus sent word to him : ' I will not give up 
the ministry of Christ which was committed to me by the disciple 
of Christ, and make a head-band of wickedness.' And when he 
saw that he did not comply, he sent and brake his legs as he was. 
sitting in the church expounding. And as he was dying he adjured 
Palut and Abshelama : ' In this house, for whose truth's sake, lo ! 
I am dying, lay me and bury me. ' And even as he had adjured 
them, so did they lay him — inside the middle door of the church, 
between the men and the women. And there was great and bitter 
mourning in all the church, and in aU the city — over and above the 
anguish and the mourning which there had been within the church, 
such as had been the mourning when Addeus the Apostle himself 
died." 

Dr. Cureton thinks the contumacious royal priest-killer 
was the second son Maanu, whose reign began about a. d. 
52. Anyhow, he was a pretty hard Christian. 

But now comes the close of the narrative, which caps 
the climax of anachronism, as will be seen by the dates 
in parentheses : 



MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 167 

" And in consequence of his dying suddenly and quickly at tlie 
breaking of his legs, he was not able to lay his hand upon Palut. 
So Palut went to Antioch and received ordination to the priesthood 
from Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, (about a. d. 189 ;) by which 
Serapion himself also ordination had been received from Zephyri- 
nus, Bishop of the city of Rome, (a. d. 202-219,) in the succession 
of the ordination to the priesthood from Simon Cephas, [Kipha, 
alias Petros,] who had received it from our Lord, and was Bishop 
there in Rome twenty-five years in the days of the Csesar, [Clau- 
dius] who reigned there thirteen years, (a, t>. 41-54.) " 

Dr. Cureton has to give up this part entirely. He says 
it is "a barefaced interpolation made by some ignorant 
person much later." Very likely ; but is not the whole 
story a fabrication of the 2d or 3d century ? To us there 
is nothing in it to command belief, but many things that 
stamp it as a baseless fiction, and we are amazed at the 
credulity of a scholar who accepts any essential part of 
the story as fact. The translator of our document, the 
Key. B. P. Pratten, in his preface admits that doubt is 
cast upon the conversion of Abgar the black, by the state- 
ment in Bayer's History of Edessa that Abgar Bar Manu, 
who reigned between a. d. 160 and 170, is the first King 
of Edessa on whose coins symbols of the Baal-worship of 
the country are wanting, these being replaced in his case 
by the sign of the cross. This evidence the translator 
admits to be very strong if it refers to a complete series 
of the coins of Edessa. But he thinks there is proof at 
all events in other Syriac documents that Christianity 
was introduced into Mesopotamia early in the 2d century. 
These documents we will next consider. But we submit 
that we have adduced enough evidence to show that the 
story of Abgar and Jesus Christ, together with that of 
the Ministry of Thaddeus, is a clumsy fabrication. 

Not with anger but with pity do we assail the belief in 
these legends. • Kidicule and sarcasm are proper weapons 



168 MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLE THADDEUS. 

to be used against credulity, but anger has no place in the 
bosom of reason. The rationalist knows that belief is not 
a matter of volition, therefore he can repeat with pleasure 
the lines of Dr. Watts as hereby amended and adultified : 

Let dogs delight to bark and bite, 

For 'tis their nature to ; 
Let angry bigots growl and fight, 

TJieir God hath made them so ; 
But men of sense will never let 

Vindictive passions rise ; 
The light within was never set 

To blind the mental eyes. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE GEUCIFIXION A. D. 29— THE ASCENSION AT PEN- 
TECOST. 

The same Syriac manuscript in which the story of the 
Ministry of Thaddeus is found, contains another entitled 
" Teaching of the Apostles." It begins thus : 

"At what time Christ was taken up to his Father; and how the 
Apostles received the gift of the spirit, and the ordinances and laws 
of the church ; and whither each one of the Apostles went ; and 
from whence the countries in the territories of the Romans received 
the ordination to the priesthood. 

"In the year 339 of the kingdom of the Greeks, in the month 
Heziran, on the 4th day of the same, which is the first day of the 
week, and the end of Pentecost — on the self -same day came the 
disciples from Nazareth of Galilee, where the concej)tion of our 
Lord was announced, to the mount which is called that of the Place 
of Olives, our Lord being with them, but not being visible to them. 
And at the time of early dawn our Lord lifted up his hands and laid 
them upon the heads of the eleven disciples, and gave them the 
gift of the priesthood. And suddenly a bright cloud received him. 
And they saw him as he was going up to heaven." 



THE CEUCIFIXION AND ASCENSION. 169 

The year of the crucifixion has hitherto been variously 
set from a. d. 29 to 37, but here, in our recently-discovered 
Syriac document, we have it definitely and positively fixed; 
the year 339 of the Greeks is considered to be a. d. 28-9. 

And this harmonizes with the statement in the story of 
Abgar and Jesus, that Thaddeus went to Edessa in the 
year 340 — i. e., a. d. 29-30. The Greek year ended at the 
summer solstice ; therefore the year 340 began about the 
end of June, a. d. 29. Or, if we take the Syrian and He- 
brew civil year, which ended at the autumnal equinox, 
the year 340 began about the end of September. 

The month Heziran answers to the Hebrew Sivan, and 
began with the new moon of June. The Jewish feast of 
Pentecost, says Smith's Bible Dictionary, fell in due 
course on the 6th day of Sivan, being reckoned from the 
2d day of the Passover, the 16th of Nisan ; or, from the 
morrow after the Sabbath to the morrow after the com- 
pletion of the seventh week, which would of course be the 
fiftieth day. If the 4th day^of the Syrian month Heziran 
be not the same as the 6th of Sivan, the difference at all 
events is only two days. 

The hitherto unquestioned inference, or conclusion, 
drawn from Acts i, 3, that Jesus continued on earth no 
longer than forty days after his passion, must now give 
way to the positive assertion of our Syriac document that 
the ascension took place at "the end of Pentecost." Un- 
til Christians impeach their own best testimony, the fact 
must be accepted by them that Jesus continued upon 
earth forty-nine days after he arose from the dead. 

Further on our document again says that the ascension 
occurred on the first day of the week, and at the comple- 
tion of fifty days after the resurrection. This, therefore, 
settles the hitherto unsettled question whether the day 
of Pentecost fell on Saturday or Sunday. 



170 THE CRUCIFIXION AND ASCENSION. 

On the self-same day of Pentecost we are told that the 
eleven Apostles travelled from Nazareth to the Mount of 
Olives. The distance is 62 miles in a straight line ; the 
country is mountainous and the roads crooked, making 
the journey not less than 70 miles. And yet the eleven 
Apostles are said to have travelled all that distance in 
one night. The Jev^ish Sabbath ended at sunset, or 6 
o'clock the evening before, and travelling more than a 
mile and a half v^as strictly prohibited by Jewish law ; 
therefore we are compelled to take the statement just as 
it reads — that they made the whole journey between 6 
o'clock Sabbath evening and daybreak on Sunday morn- 
ing. Seventy miles on foot in ten hours ! seven miles an 
hour ! Beat that who can ! 

The rest of the story, telling us what the Apostles did 
on the same day, what ordinances and laws they promul- 
gated, how their several dioceses were assigned, and how 
Simon Kepha died, is reserved for another chapter. 



CHAPTEK XXXV. 

APOSTOLIC APPOINTMENTS— DEATH OF SIMON KEPHA. 

From the Mount of Olives the Apostles proceeded to 
the same upper room in which they had observed the 
Passover — though according to John the last supper was 
a day prior to the Passover. There they were in great 
perplexity how they should be able to preach the GosjDel 
to people of strange tongues ; but Simon Kepha pretty 
soon solved the problem by recalling the promise of Je- 
sus, to wit : " When I am ascended to my Father I will 
send you the Spirit, the Paraclete, [Comforter,] that he 
may teach you everything which it is meet for you to know 
and to make known." In John xiv, xv, and xvi, we find 



APOSTOLIC APPOINTMENTS. 171 

passages resembling this, but not in the Synoptics. The 
word Paraclete occurs only in John's Gospel and first 
Epistle. 

"And while Simon Cephas [Kepha] was saying these things to 
his fellow Apostles, and putting them in remembrance, a mysteri- 
ous voice was heard by them, and a sweet odor, which was strange 
to the world, answered them ; and tongues of fire, between the voice 
and the odor, came down from heaven towards them, and alighted 
and sat on every one of them ; and according to the tongue which 
every one of them had severally received, so did he prepare himself 
to go to the country in which that tongue was spoken and heard. 

" And by the same gift of the Spirit which was given them on 
that day they appointed Ordinances and Laws, such as were in ac- 
cordance with the Gospel of their preaching, and with the true and 
faithful doctrine of their teaching," 

Then follows a list of twenty-seven ordinances, the most 
significant of which are briefly as follows : 

Pray ye towards the east, because " as the lightning 
which lighteneth from the east and is seen even to the 
west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." (A lit- 
eral agreement with Matt, xxiv, 27.) 

On tbe first day of the week let there be service and 
the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and the oblation, 
because on that day our Lord arose, ascended^ and loill 
appear again. 

On the 4th day of the week let there be service ; also 
on the eve of the Sabbath at the ninth hour. 

Let elders and deacons, like the Levites, be ap- 
pointed ; also sub-deacons, and a watchman or Guide, 
like Aaron. (The translator has inserted " overseer " for 
*' watchman," but he admits that the Syriac word is equiv- 
alent to " watchman," and not to the Greek word episko- 
pos, " overseer." Only once in the Syriac New Testa- 
ment does the word episkupah, "overseer" or "bishop," 
appear, namely, in Acts xx, 28, where it is manifestly bor- 
rowed from the Greek.) 



172 APOSTOLIC APPOINTMENTS. 

Celebrate the day of the epiphany, which is the chief 
of the festivals of the church ; also the day of the resur- 
rection and passion. (No mention of Christmas in these 
Ordinances.) 

Fast forty days before the day of the passion. (Lent.) 

Besides the Old Testament and the Prophets, let the 
Gospel (!) and the Acts (! !) be read. 

At the completion of fifty days after his resurrection 
make ye a commemoration of his ascension to his glori- 
ous Father. 

Whosoever loveth the Jews, like Iscariot, who was 
their friend, should not be tolerated as a minister. 

A Jew or Pagan convert who has once gone back should 
not be received again. 

Kings who shall hereafter believe in Christ should be 
privileged to stand before the altar along with the Guides 
of the church. 

Let the bread of the oblation be placed on the altar 
on the day it is baked. 

It will be observed that everything in these ordi- 
nances savors of the ecclesiasticism of the 3d and 4th 
centuries. 

Then follows a statement that Paul and Timothy trans- 
mitted these same commands to the churches in which 
they were preaching. On the contrary, we read in Acts 
XV, that Paul and Barnabas received and transmitted the 
decree of the first Apostolic council, which contained only 
three or four simple requirements. And in Paul's own 
account of his first and only conference with the Apos- 
tles at Jerusalem, we find that he and Barnabas received 
the right hand of fellowship with no sort of injunction 
or restriction. The three accounts are irreconcilable ; the 
first two neutralize each other, and Paul's own Epistle 
extinguishes both. 



APOSTOLIC APPOINTMENTS. 173 

Distinguished converts were made at Jerusalem, among 
whom are named two chiefs of the synagogue, Nicode- 
mus and GamaHel, and four sons of Caiaphas and Alex- 
ander the priests. At first these proselytes came to the 
Apostles at night and confessed Christ secretly, but at 
length they were persuaded to make an open profession 
of faith, incurring thereby the bitter hostility of their peo- 
ple. One of these sons of Caiaphas was named Joseph, 
and it has been claimed that his full name was Joseph 
Caiaphas, and that he was the historian Josephus ! The 
great Jewish historian was born a. d. 37, just eight years 
after the events recorded in this document. But allow- 
ing twenty years for the ministry of the Apostles at Je- 
rusalem, Josephus would then have reached the age of 
twelve. Such young converts are very apt to fall from 
grace. 

The evidence that our document was a late fabrication 
grows stronger as it draws to a close. It speaks of Simon 
being at Rome, John at Ephesus, Mark at Alexandria, 
Andrew in Phrygia, Luke in Macedonia, and Judas 
Thomas in India. It alludes to the reading of the Acts of 
the Apostles, which it says Luke wrote, and calls Luke an 
Apostle. Thomas Paine, for happening inadvertently to 
call Luke an Apostle, was charged with ignorance by 
Bishop Watson, who himself presently made a far worse 
blunder in saying that Luke's Gospel gave the genealogy 
of Mary! 

In a former chapter we cited Eusebius to show what a 
vast circuit Peter had to travel, embracing an area in Asia 
alone as large as the Eastern and Middle States, besides 
his bishopric at Rome. Then the letter of King Abgar 
to the King of Assyria puts Simon in Persia before a. d. 
40, and the first Epistle of Peter (Simon Kepha) pur- 
ports to have been written fi'om Babylon. But our pres- 



174 DEATH OF SIMON KEPHA. 

ent document extends the diocese of Simon Kepha so as 
to embrace all Italy, Spain, Gaul and Britain! The 
Papal See seems never to have been so extensive as in 
the lifetime of its first occupant, when it reached far be- 
yond the limits of the Eoman Empire ! 

Tradition says that Peter was crucified at Eome with 
his head downward at his own request ; and this is con- 
firmed by the next in order of our Syriac documents, 
which tells us all about Simon Kepha in Rome. But 
unfortunately these documents do not always agree with 
one another, and the last sentence of the present narra- 
tive reads thus : "And Nero Csesar despatched with the 
sword Simon Cephas [Kepha] in the city of Home." In 
the midst of so many contradictions and discrepancies we 
fear we shall never find out exactly how Simon Kepha, 
alias Peter, died ; or indeed whether he ever did die. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

SIMON KEPHA IN EOME. 

The next of our Syriac legends is entitled " The Teach- 
ing of Simon Kepha in the City of Rome." (We prefer 
the Syriac Kepha to the translator's Cephas.) The story 
begins as follows : 

"In the third year of Claudius Cesar, [a. d. 43,] Simon Kepha 
departed from Antioch to go to Rome. And as he passed on he 
preached in the various countries the word of our Lord. And 
when he had nearly arrived there many had heard of it and went 
out to meet him, and the whole church received him with great joy. 
And some of the princes of the city, wearers of the imperial head- 
bands, came to him that they might see him and hear his word. 
And when the whole city was gathered together about him he stood 
up to speak to them, and to show them the preaching of his doc- 
trine, of what sort it was. And he began to speak to them thus :" 



SIMON KEPHA IN ROME, 175 

Here let us note two or three things in the above. One 
striking peculiarity of all these Syriac documents is the 
fixing of dates. If all the rest of the early Christian 
records had done the same, the great Papal structure 
would never have arisen. These documents containing 
dates have been buried for ages, and their resurrection 
is playing the mischief with ecclesiastical assumptions. 
The Papal Church has hitherto claimed that Peter was 
Bishop of Rome as early as a. d. 41 or 42 ; but now we 
have it positively declared in a Syriac document almost 
as old as any existing Greek manuscript, that not until 
A. D. 43 did Simon Kepha come to Rome. And this is 
the Galilean Apostle whose name the Greek Fathers stole 
and changed to Petros, in order to make a fossiliferous 
figure-head for the Latin Church ! 

Our document, by the way, has " thirtieth " instead of 
^^ third yeav of Claudius." That would have been a. d. 
71. No wonder the translator presumed to correct the 
figures in this case, as he has done in several others. 

It is said that " the whole Church received him with 
great joy." How does this agree with what we read in 
Acts xxviii, — that when Paul reached Rome twenty years 
later he found no church nor congregation there, but 
called the Jews together at " his lodging," and there ex- 
pounded to them the doctrines of the "new sect? " 

It is said further that "the whole city was gathered 
together " to hear Simon Kepha; The inhabitants of 
Rome, according to a census taken by this same Emperor 
Claudius, numbered 6,900,000. This is of course in- 
credible, but it is generally conceded that the city con- 
tained 2,000,000. What nonsense, therefore, to talk about 
the assembling of " the whole city," and how preposter- 
ous to suppose that a Galilean fisherman could talk to the 
Romans in Latin ! 



176 SIMON KEPHA II. hOME. 

But now let us attend to Simon's sermon, delivered, 
we must suppose, at the market-place, and reported, we 
may imagine, by the stenographer Mark : 

"Men, people of Rome, saints of all Italy, hear ye that which I 
say to you." 

How many saints were there in all Italy a. d. 43, and 
of what sort were they ? ' Suetonius tells us that Claudius 
expelled the turbulent Jews who were constantly rioting 
at the instigation of Chrestus. It will not be claimed that 
Simon addressed that sort of Chrestians. History shows 
no certain trace of a Christian church at Rome before the 
early part of the 2d century. Strike out the title " to the 
Romans " and the word " Rome " in chap, i, verses 7 and 
15 of Paul's Epistle, and no evidence remains that it was 
ever addressed to that people ! In Marcion's collection 
of Paul's Epistles was one to the Laodiceans, which is 
believed by many to have been changed to Ephesians. 
The most frequent mutilations of ancient manuscripts 
have been made in the titles. Rome was slow to receive 
Christianity. 

The story of Nero's persecution of Christians is doubted 
by Gibbon ; and now a well-known writer in the Edinburg 
Revieid proposes to prove that the "Annals " of Tacitus, 
from whence the story emanates, were forged by one 
Poggio Bracciolini, who died in 1459, having for forty 
years been apostolic secretary to seven successive Popes. 
Bracciolini was a fine scholar and competent to commit 
such a forgery. And here is one piece of evidence going 
to show that a part of the passage in the "Annals" con- 
cerning the punishment of the Christians by Nero is 
plagiarized from Sulpicius Severus, an elegant Christian 
writer about the year 400 



SIMON KEPHA IN ROME. 177 

kius Severus. A. D. 400. Pseudo Tacitus. A. D. 1459. 



Quin et novse mortes excogi- Et perenntibus addita ludibria, 

tatse, utferarum tergis contecti, utferarum tergis contecti, lania- 

laniatu canum interirent. Mul- tu canum mterirent, a.nt cruclbus 

ti crucibusafflxi,autflammdnsti. afflxi, aut flammandi, atque ubi 

Plerique in id reservati, ut cum defedsset dies, in usum nocturni 

defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur.* 
luminis urerentur. 

Out of twenty -five consecutive Latin words in pseudo 
Tacitus, eighteen are identical and consecutive in Severus. 
One passage, therefore, is certainly plagiarized from the 
other. Now, does any rational man believe that the 
Christian writer Severus would have failed to cite his au- 
thority for so important a passage, if the " Annals " of 
Tacitus were then existing and contained it ? Is it not 
far more likely that Bracciolini plagiarized it from Severus 
as the basis of his impudent forgery ? 

The language of Rome was Latin, and although it is 
possible that a society of Greeks might have lived there, 
it is by no means certain that Paul wrote an Epistle in 
Greek. Competent Orthodox critics maintain " that near- 
ly all the Epistles must have been first composed by the 
Apostles in Aramaean, their native tongue, and then com- 
mitted by them to some of their Grecizing companions, 
{e. g., Titus, Timothy, Tertius, Sosthenes, &c.,) by whom 
they were translated into Greek before their publication." 
(Murdock's English Syriac N. T., Appendix.) 

If the account in Acts xxi, 37-40, is to be credited, it 
would seem as if Paul could not speak Greek, bat could 
talk Hebrew to a crowd of Jews, to whom it had long 
since become a dead language. But probably the writer 
meant Aramaic. 

* Translation of pseudo Tacitus : A.nd derision was added to their 
executions. Some were tied up in the skins of wild beasts that they 
might be worried to death by dogs. Some were crucified, others 
were burned to death, being set up as lights in the night time. 



178 SIMON KEPHA IN HOME. 

But to return to the discourse. Appealing to his 
hearers as already aware of the mighty works, signs, and 
wonders wrought by Jesus in Palestine, Simon says : 

" And he was crucified of his own will by the hands of sinners, 
and was taken up to his Father, even as I and my companions saw. 
And he is about to come again, in his own glory and that of his holy 
angels, even as we heard him say to us. For we cannot say any- 
thing which was not heard by us from him, neither do we write 
iu the book of his Gospel anything which he himself did not say 
to us." 

Here we seem to have a hint of the long lost " Gospel 
according to Peter." But if Kepha did write a Gospel, 
see how modest he is about his literary abilities : 

" Moreover, because we were catchers of fish, and not skilled in 
books, therefore did' he also say to us, ' I will send you the Spirit, 
the Paraclete, that he may teach you that which ye know not.' " 

The same quotation, a little varied, was made by this 
Apostle at Pentecost. (See preceding chapter.) Para- 
clete is a Greek word transferred to the Syriac, and is 
nowhere found in the New Testament except in the 
Gospel and first Epistle of John, both conceded to have 
been written after the death of Simon. 

But now hear what Simon says about the wonderful 
spread of the Gospel in fourteen years : 

" One would not credit it ; the time, lo I is short since he ascended 
to his Father, and see how his Gospel has winged its flight through 
the whole creation." 

No, indeed, Kepha, we can't credit it, any more than 
what follows : 

* ' And whereas ye saw the sun become darkened at his death, ye 
yourselves also are witnesses. The earth moreover quaked when 
he was skin, and the veil was rent at his death. And concerning 
these things the Governor Pilate also was witness ; for he himself 
sent and made them known to Cesar, and these things, and more 
than these, were read before him, and before the princes of your city. 
Aud on this account Cesar was angry against Pilate, because he had 



SIMON KEPHA IN KOME. 179 

■unjustly listened to the persuasion of the Jews ; and for this reason 
he sent and took away from him the authority which he had given 
to him. And this same thing was published and known in all the 
dominion of the Komans." 

In the foregoing we have a repetition of things con- 
tained in the two versions of the letter of Tiberius to 
Abgar, heretofore given, about which no more need be 
said. 

And now comes a statement that the watchers at the 
sepulchre confessed to Pilate that they were bribed by 
the chief priests to report that the disciples of Christ 
stole his corpse while they were almost dead with fright 
— not while they slept, as Matthew has it. This pre- 
tended bribery is an old Gospel story, but the confes- 
sion of it to Pilate is a new feature disclosed in this 
document. 

Simon concludes his discourse with warning the peo- 
ple against the delusions of his namesake, Simon the 
sorcerer, and in order to prove him a fraud calls upon 
them to fetch him up and test his pretensions on the 
spot. 

Justin, in his Apology addressed to the Emperor 
Antonine, about a. d. 150, expressly states that Simon, a 
Samaritan, by the power of devils, performed mighty 
feats of magic at Kome in the reign of Claudius. The 
fact of his being at Eome in that reign and having many 
followers, cannot reasonabl}^ be doubted. But quite other- 
wise as regards the other Simon, the fisherman of Galilee. 
The successors of Simon Magus were living at Eome when 
Justin wrote, chief of whom was Marcion, stigmatized 
by Justin as a blasphemer, though called a Christian, or 
Chrestian. (ApoL, ch. xxvi.) Marcion had so large a fol- 
lowing that those who claimed to be Orthodox were try- 
ing to put down his heresy for a century or more after 



180 



SIMON KEPHA IN EOME. 



his death. And this prevalence of the doctrines of Simon 
Magus and his successors down to the 3d or 4th century, 
probably accounts for the writing of so many stories about 
the encounters of the two Simons, all pure fictions. Such, 
without doubt, is the character of our present story. 

Well, Simon the sorcerer is sent for forthwith and 
brought up to the bull-ring. Now for a crucial test of 
the magical powers of Simon M. and Simon K. It hap- 
pens, providentially, that a funeral of a young man is just 
passing. Here is just the sort of case required by the 
people : let the two miracle-workers try which can raise 
the dead to life. Simon M., having been longest in town, 
must make the first trial. Reluctantly he draws near to 
the pall-bearers, and the bier is set down before him. 
Looking to the right and to the left, and then up into the 
sky, he mutters many words, some aloud and some not, 
and waits for the result. But after waiting a long while 
nothing happens. Then comes Simon K.'s turn. Boldly 
he draws near to the dead man, and cries aloud : 

"In the name of Jesus Christ, whom the Jews crucified at Jeru- 
salem, and whom we preach, rise up thence. And as soon as the 
word of Simon [K.] was spoken the dead man came to hfe and rose 
up from the bier. And all the people saw it and marvelled ; and 
they said to Simon, [K.,] 'Christ whom thou preachest is true.' 
And many cried out and said, ' Let Simon the sorcerer and the de- 
ceiver of us all be stoned.' But Simon, [M.,] by reason that every 
one was running to see the dead man that was come to life, escaped 
from them from one street to another, and from house to house, 
and fell not into their hands on that day." 

The success of Simon K. was complete. The father of 
the dead-alive young man took the Apostle home with 
him, and the whole household were converted to Christ. 

"And when there was great rejoicing at his teaching, he built 
churches there in Rome and in the cities round about, and in all 
the villages of the people of Italy ; and he served there in the rank 
of the Superintendence of Rulers twenty-five years." 



SIMON KEPHA IN KOME. 181 

For Superintendence of Rulers we may find an equiva- 
lent in the Greek, Katholikos Episkopos, or in Latin, 
Pontifex Maximus, or in English, High Cockalorum. 

' ' And after those years Nero Cesar seized him and shut him up 
in prison. And he knew that he would crucify him ; so he called 
Ansus the deacon, and made him Bishop in his stead in Rome." 

This Ansus is supposed to be intended for Linus, the 
fabulous successor of St. Peter. The translator, finding 
the name of Linus in another later copy, is cock-sure that 
Ansus is a mistake for Linus. 

As a last charge to Ansus, alias Linus, Simon K. 



*' Beside the New Testament and the Old let there not be read be- 
fore the people anything else, a thing which is not right." 

So it seems that the New Testament canon was com- 
plete before the end of Nero's reign, a. d. 68, Dr. Lard- 
ner to the contrary notwithstanding, who dates John's 
Gospel, A. D. 68, and his three Epistles and the Revela- 
tion twelve to twenty-eight years later. Modern criti- 
cism, which presumes to prove that our Gospels are the 
work of tiie 2d century, must now give way to the words 
of Simon K. Peter, translated out of his original Syriac 
tongue. 

" And when Cesar had commanded that Simon should be cruci- 
fied with his head downwards, as he himself had requested of Cesar, 
and that Paul's head should be taken off, there was great commo- 
tion among the people, and bitter distress in all the church, seeing 
that they were deprived of the sight of the Apostles, " 

Here we have the first, last, and only appearance of Paul 
in the drama. He comes in just to have his head cut off. 
The offence for w^hich these two Apostles lost their lives 
is not stated here, but we find it in " The Acts of Peter and 
Paul," heretofore adverted to in our ''Pursuit of Peter." 
A vast multitude had assembled to witness a promised 



182 SIMON KEPHA IN KOME. 

miracle by Simon Magus — flying from the top of a tall 
tower. Peter and Paul were present to prove to Nero 
that Simon was only a devilish magician. Well, to the 
amazement of all, Simon did fly. Thereupon Nero, with 
a sardonic smile, asked Peter and Paul what they wero 
going to do about it now ? Paul, with tears in his eyes, 
implored Peter to hurry up his part of the job. So Peter 
adjured the " angels of Satan " to let Simon drop. The 
prayer was answered, and Simon was smashed. Then 
Nero in his wrath ordered the two Apostles to be put in 
irons, and after three days, finding that Simon did not 
rise from the dead, as he had boasted he could, he sent 
them to execution. 

Our document says the bodies of the Apostles were 
taken up bynight and buried with great honor, while by 
a righteous judgment Nero abandoned the empire and 
fled. The last sentence reads, " Here endeth the teach- 
ing of Simon Kepha," to which Antichrist might truth- 
fully append, "falsely called Simon Peter." 



CHAPTEE XXXVII. 

MAKTYRDOM OF SHAEBIL. 

The next Syriac document is entitled " Acts of Sharbil, 
who was a priest of Idols, and was converted to the con- 
fession of Christianity in Christ." It is taken from the 
same early manuscript that has furnished us with all the 
preceding legends, with the exception of one earlier frag- 
ment about Abgar and Thaddeus. The present story be- 
gins thus : 

"In the 15th year of the Sovereign Ruler Trajan Cesar, and in 
the 3d year of King Abgar the Seventh, which is the year 416 of the 
kingdom of Alexander, King of the Greeks, and in the priesthood 
of Sharbil and Barsamya, — " 



MAETYEDOM OF SHAEBIL. 183 

Let US stop right here to notice the chronology. The 
15th year of Trajan was a. d. 112, but the 416th year of 
the Greeks was a. d. 105. The translator, noting this 
discrepancy, says, " There appears to be some error in the 
date." Just so ; these Syrian legends never get the 
dates to fit. 

Again : how about Abgar the 7th being contemporary 
with Trajan ? The translator says that this Abgar was 
the 7th from Abgar the black, who was cured and con- 
verted by the Apostle Thaddeus. But Abgar the black 
was the 14th of that name ; therefore this one must have 
been the 21st. 

Once more ; Barsamya, the Christian priest, as we read 
in the "Teaching of Addeus," was one of Thaddeus's 
converts and associates in the ministry. That was be- 
tween A. D. 29 and 40 ; but now, a. d. 105 or 112, Barsa- 
mya has become Bishop of Edessa. How old is he? 
Supposing him to have been 24 when Thaddeus came to 
Edessa, he would have reached in the year 105 the ripe 
age of 100. 

Well, to resume our story, Trajan Cesar sent forth a 
command to the governors of all the provinces that in all 
the cities sacrifices and oblations should be increased, 
and those who did not sacrifice should be delivered over 
to stripes and tortures. When this order reached Edessa 
a grand festival was held in honor of the gods, Nebu and 
Bel. Sharbil, the chief priest, clad in magnificent vest- 
ments, directed the slaughter of sheep and oxen and the 
offering of incense and libations, while King Abgar the 7th 
(or 21st) stood by at the head of the people. But while 
the festivities were going on, the Christian Bishop Barsa- 
mya, accompanied by an elder and a deacon, held a private 
conference with the high priest and pointed out to him 
how sinful and hypocritical he was in upholding and di- 
recting these idle ceremonies. Sharbil listened with 



184 MARTYEDOM OF SHARBIL. 

serious attention, and frankly confessed that he was a 
hypocrite and a deceiver, but what was the use of their 
trying to save him? "For," said he, "I am slain by Pa- 
ganism and am become a dead man, the property of the 
Evil One ; in sacrifices and libations of imposture have I 
consumed all the days of my life." 

A parallel to this scene is said to have occurred in our 
day, when the great Congregational preacher, with stream- 
ing eyes, confessed to the high priestess of Free Love 
that for forty years he had lived a hypocrite.* But right 
there the parallel stops. The ancient Pagan forsook his 
idols ; the modern Puritan did not. 

The centenarian Bishop Barsamya expostulated with 
Sharbil, saying, " There is hope for those who turn, and 
healing for those that are wounded. I myself will be 
surety to thee for the abundant mercies of the Son Christ, 
that he will pardon thee all the sins which thou hast com- 
mitted against him." This appeal, backed up by a per- 
sonal pledge of Christ's mercy, was successful ; albeit we 
shall presently see how much the " surety " of this ven- 
erable vicar of Christ was worth, and what " mercies " 
Sharbil received when he renounced Pa,ganism for Chris- 
tianity. The next day Sharbil and his sister went by 
night and joined the Christian church. This straightway 
created consternation among the Pagans. They beheld 
their high priest, who only the day before presided at 
their great festival, now "clad in the fashion of Chris- 
tians," and heard him denounce their gods. 

No sooner did Lysanias, the Governor, hear of Sharbil's 
apostacy, than he ordered him to be arrested and tried. 
Just here is another hitch in the chronology. Who was 
this Lysanias 1 In a later Syriac document he is called 

* A slight error : the confession, we are told, was made not to 
Victoria C. WoodhuU, but to the preacher's own sister. We would 
not do injustice even to a fallen angel. 



MAKTYKDOM OF SHARBIL. 185 

Lysinus or Lucinus, and in a Latin book of Martyrs he 
is called Jjjsms prceses . Tillemont supposes him to be 
Lusius Quietus ; but, says Dr. Cureton, the time does 
not agree. The capture of Edessa under this man was 
in the 19th year of Trajan instead of the 15th — a. d. 116 
instead of 112 or 105 — a dijfference of four or eleven 
years. So you see again the dates don't dovetail. 

Governor Lysanias first tries by appeals, and then by 
threats, to induce Sharbil to return to the faith. Repeat- 
edly he asks him if he is not " afraid of the Emperors 1 " 
Aha ! Emperors, indeed ! Trajan reigned alone at this 
time, and not till a. d. 161 were there two monarchs who 
divided the throne. This anachronism alone stamps the 
story as a forgery. Not till a. d. 160 did Christianity 
obtain a footing in Mesopotamia. Thereafter it is quite 
likely some religious fanatics lost their lives, but not 
before. 

Sharbil continuing inflexible, is subjected to a series of 
most cruel tortures, then sent to prison and confined 
about six months, then taken out to undergo new tortures. 
In the midst of his sufferings he and the Governor hold 
a long argument, in which Sharbil makes many quotations 
from Church authorities. For this " citation of books " 
the Governor rebukes him, saying that those same books 
have brought upon him these afflictions. But strangely 
enough, only one of Sharbil's quotations agrees at all 
with any of the New Testament books, and that only 
partially with a passage in Romans. 

At last, when Sharbil is about to succumb to his suf- 
ferings, the executioners cut his head off, while Babai, his 
sister, draws near, and spreading out her skirt catches his 
blood. Such was Sharbil's quick reward in fulfilment of 
the promise of Bishop Barsamya — "I myself will be 
surety for thee for the abundant mercies of the Son 



186 MAKTYRDOM OF SHARBIL. , 

Christ." O merciful Messiah ! how joyful thy aervice ! 
how rich thy rewards ! Even the poor, deluded sister 
obtained the martyr's crown, being put to torture and 
death at the command of the Governor on the very spot 
where she had caught her brother's blood. 

The closing paragraph of this legend is like what we 
find in the prior stories — full of the grossest anachro- 
nisms, making Barsamya contemporary with Binus, [Fabi- 
anus,] Bishop of Rome a. d. 236, and telling about a 
famine in Eome, the Lord knows when, supposed by the 
superstitious Pagans to have been caused by the presence 
of too many foreigners, who were consequently com- 
manded to depart. But the accused strangers asked and 
obtained leave of the Praetor to take away with them the 
bones of the dead, and as they proceeded to exhume the 
remains of Simon Kepha and Paul the people assembled 
and protested, but being assured that the buried Apostles 
were natives of Galilee and Cilicia, they were appeased. 
Not so, however, with the earth itself. It groaned and 
shuddered at the awful sacrilege, and came near shaking 
the whole city down, whereupon the people besought the 
strangers to put the bones back, whic]^ was done. Then 
the earthquake ceased, and a great revival took place 
whereby multitudes of Jews and Pagans were converted 
to Christ. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

MARTYRDOM OF BARSAMYA. 

The abundant mercies of Christ bestowed upon the 
martyr Sharbil as a reward for embracing Christianity, 
were also vouchsafed to his Christian tutor Barsamya. 
Judge Lysanias (here spelt Lysinus, but again spelt Ly- 
sanias in a similar case occurring 200 years later) having 



MARTYRDOM OF BARSAMYA. 187 

disposed of the case of Sharbil, complaint was made 
against Barsamya for proselyting the Pagan high priest. 
The old Bishop was thereupon brought before the same 
tribunal, followed by a multitude of Christians who de- 
clared themselves ready to die along with their venerated 
pastor. But the supply of willing martyrs was too great 
for the demand; they could not all be accommodated. 
Barsamya was committed to jail, and after many days was 
arraigned for trial. The trial is reported in the form of 
a controversy between Judge and culprit, interspersed 
with tortures to enforce the former's arguments. The 
fear of the Emperors is repeatedly urged as a motive of 
repentance, when there was but one Emperor to fear. 
Barsamya protests against being forced to renounce the 
religion in which he was born. The fabricator of the 
legend perhaps did not have a copy of the "Teaching of 
Addeus " at hand, wherein it is stated that Barsamya was 
one of Thaddeus's converts and associate ministers before 
A. D. 40, and consequently was born before Christianity 
existed. 

The Bishop having undergone a variety of tortures, and 
being still incorrigible and defiant, is at last ordered to be 
hanged up and torn with combs. This 'would have soon 
ended the tragedy but for the timely arrival of " letters 
from Alusis, the chief proconsul," ordering a cessation of 
Christian persecution. 

Who was this Alusis ? Dr. Cureton says he " seems to 
be Lusius Quietus, Trajan's General in the East at this 
time." Very well ; but how, then, about the dates ? Our 
document begins thus : 

"In the year 416 of the kingdom of the Greeks, (a. d. 105,) that 
is the 15th year of the sovereign ruler, our lord, Trajan Cesar, (a. d. 
112)-" 

Aside from this discrepancy of seven years, Dr. Cure- 



188 MARTYEDOM OF BAESAMYA. 

ton admits that the capture of Edessa under General 
Lusius Quietus was in the 19th year of Trajan, making a 
further discrepancy of four years. It will require a new 
Kuklux Committee to determine whether this bull-dozing 
took place a. d. 105, 112, or 116. 

Tillemont supposed that Governor Lysanias was Gen- 
eral Lusius, and Dr. Cureton thinks that Alusis was 
Lusius. Strange that, after detecting Tillemont's error, 
Dr. Cureton should make the same mistake himself ! In 
either case the time does not agree. 

The imperial order prohibiting further persecution is 
given verbatim in our document, and Dr. Cureton says in 
a note : 

' ' We liave here probably the most authentic copy of the edict of 
Trajan commanding the stopping of the persecution of Christians, 
as it was taken down at the time by the reporters who heard it 
read." 

What pitiful credulity ! This Syriac manuscript is itself 
conceded to be three or four centuries later than the one 
from which the previous legends are taken, and though 
we may presume that the lost original may have existed 
as early as the 3d century, yet there is not the slightest 
evidence that it was written earlier than our Gospels, 
which Dr. Davidson dates between a. d. 118 and 150. On 
the contrary, the only quotation made from the Gospels is 
from the latest, and it occurs in two different documents. 
Besides, it is highly improbable that there was any Chris- 
tian martyrdom at Edessa prior to a. d. 160. Further- 
more, though Edessa was captured a. d. 116, Trajan died 
the next year, and though the kingdom was made tribu- 
tary to Eome, it did not become even a military colony 
till a hundred years later. 

But, aside from the inherent improbability of such an 
edict, we have the positive testimony of Melito, Bishop 



MAETYKDOM OF BAKSAMYA. 189 

of Sardis, in his " Apology," addressed to the Emperor 
Verus, (a. d. 161-169,) that Christian persecution had 
" never before happened^' and that "Nero and Domitian 
alone, stimulated by certain malicious persons, showed a 
disposition to slander our faith." (Eus., B. iv, ch. 26.) A 
"disposition to slander," that is all — no charge of intimi- 
dation even ! 

Thirty or forty years later TertuUian confirms the tes- 
timony of Melito, acquitting even Verus of the charge of 
persecution. Putting it a little stronger against Nero, 
the only charge brought against Domitian is that he ban- 
ished but soon restored. With the exception of these two 
Emperors, he challenges any one to " point, out a single 
persecutor of the Christian name." (Apol., sec. 5.) 

Lastly, Lactantius (a. d. 300-325) says that from the 
reign of Domitian (a. d. 96) to that of Decius, (249,) under 
fclie many well-deserving princes that guided the helm of 
the Empire, the church suffered no violent assaults. (De 
Mort. Pers., ch. iii, iv.) 

In the face of such testimony as this, on what a shad- 
owy basis does early Christian martyrdom rest ! 

But in regard to this pretended edict, TertuUian says 
that Pliny, Governor of Bithynia, having jvritten to the 
Emperor asking what he should do with the Christians — 

" Trajan wrote back that Christians were by no means to be sought 
after ; but if they were brought before him (presented themselves 
Eusebius has it) they should be punished." (Apol., sec. 2.) 

TertuUian' s authority on this subject seems to be the 
letter of Pliny, which we have heretofore dissected and 
believe to be a forgery, even if written before Tertullian's 
time. There is another one of the same sort purporting 
to have been written by Tiberianus, Governor of Syria, to 
Trajan, so like Pliny's letter that if not done by the same 
hand it is a plagiarism. 



190 



MARTYRDOM OF BARSAMYA. 



But Tertullian's report of Trajan's reply does not agree 
at all with our Syriac copy of the same. The former or- 
<iers the punishment of Christians ; the latter forbids the 
hindering of their ministrations under penalty of death. 

The edict — which is doubtless as false as the rest of 
the story — caused the release of Barsamya, to the great 
joy of his flock, who saluted him as " the persecuted con- 
fessor," and "the companion of Sharbil the martyr." The 
old Bishop resumed his duties, and the cruel Governor 
was dismissed. 

The closing paragraph of our story is such a remark- 
able jumble of chronology that we give it in full, with 
dates and notes in brackets : 

" This Barsamya, Bishop of Edessa, [a. d. 105 or 112,] who made 
a disciple of Sharbil, the priest of the same city, lived in the days 
of Fabianus, Bishop of the city of Eome, [a. d. 236-250.] And 
ordination to the priesthood was received by Barsamya from Abshe- 
lama, who was Bishop m Edessa, [being one of Thaddeus's con- 
verts, A. D. 29-40.] And by Abshelama ordination was received 
from Palut the First, [another of Thaddeus's converts.] And by 
Palut ordination was received from Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, 
[before and after a. d. 189. Aggeus, Thaddeus's successor, who was 
killed by Abgar's son, a.d. 52, or soon after, not having time to lay 
his hand upon Palut, the latter had to wait about 130 years, and then 
go to Antioch for ordination.] And by Serapion ordination was re- 
ceived from Zephyrinus, Bishop of Eome, [a. d. 202-219. Serapion, 
too, had to wait many years and travel a long way for ordination, 
but meanwhile he assumed all the functions of Bishop.] And Ze- 
phyrinus of Kome received ordination from Victor of the same 
place, Eome, [a. d. 190-202.] And Victor received ordination from 
Eleutherius. [The succession is now regular, and we omit the 
chronology, which is for the most part conjectural,] And Eleu- 
therius received it from Soter ; and Soter received it from Anice- 
tus ; and Anicetus received it from Dapius [Pius ;] and Dapius 
received it from Telesphorus [or rather from Hyginus, the first so- 
styled Pope — a remarkable omission ;] and Telesphorus received it 
from Xystus [Sixtus ;] and Xystus received it from Evartis [Evaris- 
tu3 ;] and Evartis received it from Cletus [or Anacletus ;] and Cle- 
tus received it from Anus [Linus;] and Anus received it from Si- 



MARTYRDOM OF BARSAMYA. 191 

mon Kepha [Peter ;] and Simon Kapha received it from our Lord, 
together with his fellow Apostles, on the first day of the week, the 
day of the ascension of our Lord to his glorious Father, [a. d. 29, at 
Pentecost,] which was the 4th day of Heziran, which was in the 19th 
year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar, [a. d. 32-3,] in the consulship of 
Eufus [a, d. 17, 50, 63, 67, 83, 88, 97, &c.,] and Rubelinus, [?] which 
was the year 341 [of the Greeks, a. d. 30 or 31, but previous docu- 
ments have 339 and 342 respectively;] for in the year 309 [b. o. 2 or 
3] occurred the advent of our Savior in the world according to the 
testimony which we ourselves have found in a correct register among 
the archives, which errs not at all in whatever it sets forth." 

Here we take leave of the Syriac documents. There 
are several more of the same sort, but they add little or 
nothing to our knowledge (or rather lack of knowledge) of 
early Christianity. Three more martyrdoms are detailed, 
but they occurred as late as a. d. 293 and 312 ; and two 
pious poems are given, written by a Syrian priest about 
A. D. 500, in eulogy of the three martyrs, with incidental 
mention of Sharbil, but none of Barsamya. 

Upon such legends historical Christianity is based. It 
has no better support. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 
THE APOSTOLIC FATHEES. 

It is now conceded by the ablest champions of rational 
Christianity that only one-third of the New Testament 
was written in the 1st century. The following are the 
Books whose composition is assigned to the 2d century 
by Dr. Davidson : 

Matthew a. d. 118-19 



Luke 

Mark 

Acts 

1st and 2d Timothy, and Titus. 

1st, 2d, and 3d John , 

John, Gospel 

2d Peter 



119-20 
120 
125 

120-40 
130 
150 
170 



192 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

These twelve Books made up two-thirds of the bnlk of 
the New Testament, and contain almost all of what pur- 
ports to be historical. 

The name Apostolic Fathers is given to the immediate 
disciples or fellow-laborers of the Apostles, and in a more 
restricted sense to those of them who have left writings 
behind them. There are at most only six, namely : Clem- 
ent, Barnabas, Hermas, Ignatius, Polycarp, and Papias. 
Laying aside the many Apocryphal " Gospels," " Acts," 
and " Revelations " now extant, none of which are claimed 
to antedate our canonical Books of like title, let us con- 
sider the writings of these Apostolic Fathers. They are 
all contained in vol. i of the Ante-Nicene Library. A 
list of them is here subjoined, with limit of dates assigned 
by Orthodox and rational critics, and the quantity of each 
work in full pages of 38 lines or about 400 words to the 
page: 

Writings. Variousltj dated. Full pages. 

1st Epistle of Clement a. d. 68-125 43 

2d Epistle of Clement " 175-250* 7 

Epistle of Barnabas " 70- 150 26 

Pastor of Hermas " 100-161 101 

Epistles of Ignatius ~> 

Three in Syriac y " 107-200* 8 

Seven Short and Long Greek ) " 107- 200* 75 

Eight more, Latin and Greek " 200- 325* 29 

Martyrdom of Ignatius " 167-600 6 

Epistle of Polycarp " 120- 167* 7 

Martyrdom of Polycarp " 167-200* 11 

Papias, Fragments " 150-163 2 

Epistle to Diognetus "... " 120-1592 12 

It will be seen from the above that only the first two 
of these Fathers are now claimed to have written within 
the 1st century. But as to them, few claim that Clem- 
ent wrote prior to a. d. 95, or Barnabas before 100. 

More than half of these ancient writings, to wit, those 
attributed to Clement, Barnabas, and Hermas, were in 

* Or later, in whole or in great part. 



CLEMENT OF ROME. 193 

early times read and revered as Holy Scripture. And of 
the remainder probably not more than 50 pages were 
known to Eusebius, a. d. 325. 

The word Christian or Christianity is not found in any 
of them except in the Martyrdom of Polycarp, the Epistles 
of Ignatius, and the Epistle to Diognetus — all no doubt 
written after the middle of the 2d century. 

No mention is made in all these writings of one of our 
four Gospels ; and in none of them whose date can be as- 
signed prior to about a. d. 200 is there any certain quota- 
tion from the same. 

In ancient times readers were few and writers rare. 
Every theological work had to undergo a fiery ordeal. If 
the Bishops adjudged it heterodox it was destroyed. For 
their purpose none but the fittest were permitted to sur- 
vive. Every Christian composition now extant, which 
can with certainty, or even probability, be dated before a. 
D. 145, was once regarded as Holy Scripture. The canon- 
ical Books now rejected would add a third more to the 
volume of the New Testament. 

We will now apply the spectrum analysis to the hazy 
forms of the so-called Apostolic Fathers. 

Clement op Rome. 

The name of Clement does not appear in either of the 
two Epistles ascribed to him, but is added at the end of 
the first in the only manuscript extant, the Alexandrian, 
which is assigned to the 5th century. The 1st Epistle 
begins thus : " The church of God which sojourns at 
... .to the church of God sojourning at Corinth." The 
hiatus is filled with " Rome," on the authority of Ireneus, 
who says the Epistle was written from that place, and of 
Eusebius, who adds that it was written by Clement in the 
name of the church at Rome. 



194 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

But let US see how much this testimony is worth. Eu- 
sebius identifies Clement with Paul's fellow-laborer men- 
tioned in Philippians iv, 3, which, if authentic, must 
have been written as early as a. d. 63. But both Ireneus 
and Eusebius make him third Bishop of Eome after 
Peter, and Eusebius records his death in the 3d year of 
Trajan, (a. d. 100.) Is it probable that a fellow-laborer 
of Paul survived him so many years ? 

Furthermore, in the " Clementine Homilies," purport- 
ing to be written by Clement himself, he says he was or- 
dained by Simon Peter. That would make him first 
Bishop of Rome about a. d. 66, instead of third a. d. 
91. 

Then as regards his age, it appears from the aforesaid 
" Homilies," as well as from the " Recognitions," another 
version of the same, that Clement was born as early as 
the year 3 b. c, which would make him 68 or older at 
Simon Peter's death, and at least 102 at the close of the 
third Roman episcopate. 

These Clementine " Homilies " and " Recognitions * 
are now universally conceded to be fictions, but they 
antedate Eusebius by a hundred years or more, and con- 
tradict his statements about Clement ; therefore in the 
absence of other evidence that Clement was third Bishop 
of Rome, we may just as well assume that he was first, 
or that he was neither. Eusebius accepts the 1st Epistle 
of Clement as genuine, doubts the authenticity of the 2d 
Ej)istle, and rejects " other writings reported to be his, 
verbose and of great length," evidently meaning the 
" Homilies " and " Recognitions." 

The author of "The Christ of Paul" boldly asserts 
that there were no Christians at Rome from the death of 
Paul to A. D. 117, and that the first nine pretended suc- 
cessors of St. Peter are myths. Antichrist would 



CLEMENT OF ROME. 195 

subtract the last four or five and add Peter to the 
myths. For the names of these early Bishops we are 
indebted to Ireneus, who gives no dates nor authority ; 
but Eusebius copies Ireneus's list and makes a clumsy 
attempt at chronology. After saying that Linus " held 
the office about twelve years," he fixes up the succession 
from the 2d year of Titus (a. d. 80-1) to the first of An- 
toninus Pius (138-9) as follows : 

Hdd office. Excess. ciency. 

Anencletus a. d. 80 12 years. 1 

Clement "91 9 " 

Euarestus " 100 8 " 1 

Alexander " 109 10 " 

Xystus " 119 10 " 1 

Telesphorus " 128 10 " 

Hyginus " 138 4 " 

From the 2d year of Titus to the 1st of Antoninus Pius 
is exactly 58 years and 16 days, but the terms of service 
in that interval foot up 69 years. This would not be a 
material discrepancy of itself were there not another 
year to be added by further discrepancies. Eusebius 
makes Anencletus lap over Clement one year, and Xystus 
over Telesphorus one year, while the term of Euarestus 
falls short one year. Balancing all the differences there 
•is a total excess of two years. 

But there is a further disagreement about Linus's 
term. Eusebius makes it end in the 2d year of Titus, 
but the Catholics, in order perhaps to avoid a vacancy 
between Peter and Linus, set back the latter's term two 
or three years, fixing it a. d. 66-78, instead of 68-80 
according to Eusebius. 

What wonder if amid such darkness of history and 
<}onfusion of chronology a suspicion arises that some 
half-dozen of the earliest of these pretended Bishops are 
myths ? A certain Clement of Philippi, or elsewhere, or 
nowhere in particular, may have written an Epistle to the 



196 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

Corinthians, but it may be doubted whether he was ever 
Bishop of Eome. Truly did Eusebius confess at the out- 
set of his work that he was entering on a trackless path, 
and that in attempting to rescue from oblivion the Apos- 
tohc succession he was scarcely able to find the bare ves- 
tiges of those who might have travelled before him ! 

The first real history we have of the character of the 
Roman Bishops is by Hippolytus, himself a Bishop, who 
denounces Zephyrinus (a. d. 202-219) as an illiterate her- 
etic, and his successor Callistus (219-222) as an impostor 
and knave. (Ref. of Her., B. ix, ch. 6, 7.) These two 
Bishops were contemporaries of Hippolytus, who there- 
fore knew whereof he wrote. 

Though none of the Fathers doubted that the com- 
panion of Paul wrote the 1st Epistle of Clement, and 
though his namesake of Alexandria called him an Apos- 
tle, the authenticity of the Epistle is now generally 
doubted. The main reason for assigning a much later 
date than a. d. 68 for its composition, is, that it speaks 
of " the most steadfast and ancient church of the Corin- 
thians," and deplores the removal from the ministry of 
some men who were appointed by " eminent" successors 
of the Apostles, and " for a long time possessed the good 
opinion of all." (Ch. 44, 47.) Assuming that the Corin- 
thian and other churches were founded by Paul between 
A. D. 45 and 60, this objection is well taken. But is such 
an assumption tenable ? 

We read in Acts that during a ministry of about 25 
years Paul preached mostly in the synagogues, was called 
a Jew, (xvi, 20,) acted as a Jew, (xxi, 26,) and claimed to 
be a law-abiding Pharisee, (xxiii, 6 ; xxv, 8.) In the syn- 
agogues many Greeks came to hear him, and his converts 
were both Jews and Greeks. Not until some time after 
he began to preach at Corinth did he venture to testify 



CLEMENT OF ROME. 197 

that Jesus was Christ, (xviii, 1-5.) The result was, a 
division in the synagogue. Paul was expelled, but he 
drew after him the chief ruler of the synagogue and other 
Jews and Greeks, to whom he ministered for a year and 
a half. Then came a new Eoman proconsul, before whom 
{he conservative party of the old synagogue had Paul 
arraigned for heresy. But the plaintiff got non-suited by 
the court and thrashed by the people, (xviii, 12-17.) 
So Paul was triumphant, and his synagogue of seceders 
doubtless claimed, as such bodies always do, to be the 
true church whose corner-stone was Moses. 

That this is no mere hypothesis the Epistle of Clement 
itself shows. In discussing the ordinances of the Apos- 
tles, (ch. 40-44,) the author appeals to the authority of 
Moses, and to prove that the appointment of bishops and 
deacons is no new thing he misquotes Is. Ix, 17, thus : 

"I will appoint their bishops {episkopous) in righteousness and 
their deacons in faith." 

Septuagint. — I will give thy Hebrew. — I will make their 

Tulers in peace and thy overseers officers peace and their exactors 
{episkopous) in righteousness. righteousness. 

We see no reason therefore for disputing the earliest 
date assigned to the 1st Epistle of Clement, making due 
allowance for later interpolations. The 2d Epistle was 
first mentioned by Eusebius. It is now universally re- 
garded as spurious. 

The only primitive preachers named in the 1st Epistle 
are Paul, Kephas, and ApoUos. (Ch. 47.) In another 
place (ch. 5) Paul and another Apostle are mentioned as 
martyrs, and as all the letters of the name of the other 
Apostle are obliterated but the last two, os, it has been 
assumed to be Petros. But is it likely that the author 
would write Kephas in one place and Petros in another, 
referring to the same Apostle? lakohos (James) was 



198 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

well known to Paul, and was a reputed martyr. Why- 
should not Clement couple him with Paul in martyrdom, 
rather than Petros, of whom Paul makes no mention '? 

The author of the Epistle, arguing by analogy in favor 
of the resurrection, assumes as true the generation of the 
phoenix from a worm that feeds on its dead carcass — a 
worse scientific blunder than that of Jesus and Paul, who 
say that a kernel of wheat must die before it can germi- 
nate. (John xii, 24 ; 1 Cor., xv, 36.) 

A brief summary of the Clementine " Homilies " and 
" Eecognitions " will be given hereafter. 

Barnabas. 

The Epistle of Barnabas, like that of Clement, is anon- 
ymous. The first writer who mentions it is Clement of 
Alexandria, (a. d. 189-202,) who calls its author the 
"Apostle Barnabas;" and it is so ascribed in the title of 
the oldest Latin manuscript. It was highly valued by 
the early church; Origen ranked it among the Holy 
Scriptures, and it is contained in the earliest codex of the 
New Testament. But Eusebius rejected it as spurious. 
A few modern critics are disposed to date it between 
A. D. 70 and 100, others a little later, but the general 
opinion is that it was written between a. d. 117 and 150. 

The authenticity of the Epistle is rejected by modern 
Christians because, among other reasons, of its disre- 
spectful opposition to Judaism, its many blunders in re- 
gard to Mosaic laws and rites, its absurd interpretations 
of Scripture, and its foolish vaunts of superior knowledge. 
The writer quotes apocryphal works as Holy Scripture ; 
cites words of Jesus which are nowhere to be found; 
typifies him by a slaughtered calf ; also by a goat driven 
into the wilderness with scarlet wool encircling its head ; 
typifies the cross by a stick bound with purple wool and 



BARNABAS. 199 

hyssop, with which the people were sprinkled after the 
sacrifice of the calf ; also by Moses standing with out- 
stretched hands while the battle waged. The six days 
of creation typify 6,000 years followed by a thousand 
years' Sabbath. A most sacred mystery is evolved out 
of the 318 men of Abraham's household, namely : The 
name of Jesus, IH (Greek E long) represents 18, and the 
cross, T, 300. This precious secret was revealed to 
Abraham and the author, who says he " never received a 
more excellent piece of knowledge." 

The reasons for the Mosaic prohibition of certain kinds 
of animal food are these : The swine, the eagle, hawk, and 
raven because they represent hoggish and thievish men ; 
the lamprey, polypus, and cuttle fish because they live 
in the mud; the weasel because it conceives with its 
mouth ; the hyena because it annually changes its sex ; 
and the hare because "it multiplies year by year the 
places of its conception ; for as many years as it lives so 

many it has." (Let Anthony Comstock translate 

the Greek word triipas.) 

We are told in this Epistle that Jesus chose as his 
Apostles those " who were sinners above all sin, that he 
might show that he came not to call the righteous but 
sinners." " To repentance," adds a later scribe, not only 
here, but also in Matthew and Mark. 

Could Barnabas, the companion of Paul, have been 
such a fool as to write thus ? Perhaps not ; but how far 
short of such foolishness are many of the writings of the 
Fathers'? 

There is one passage in the Epistle which is claimed 
to be a certain quotation from and recognition of Mat- 
thew's Gospel as Scripture : 

' ' Let us beware lest we be found as it is written, ' Many are called, 
but few chosen. ' " (Ch. 4.) 



200 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

This is the earliest instance in the writings of the 
Fathers of an apparent citation from any book of the 
New Testament preceded by the formula, "it is. written," 
which implies that the passage quoted is Holy Scripture. 
And it is the only quotation in the Epistle agreeing with 
our Gospels. 

Twice in Matthew the exact words quoted in the 
Epistle occur, (xx, 16 ; xxii, 14 ;) but were they wanting 
in Matthew there could be little doubt that reference was 
made to 4th Esdras, (viii, 3,) an apocryphal book fre- 
quently referred to by the writer. Let us compare the 
three passages : 

Matt. — For many are called, but few chosen. 

Barn. — Many [are] called, but few chosen. 

Esd. — For many are created, but few wiU be saved. 

Had we the original Greek of fourth Esdras, which is lost, 
instead of the Latin version, it is possible that the agree- 
ment might be more literal, for the sense is the same. 

But it is remarkable that in both cases where the passage 
occurs in Matthew, it has no proper application to what 
precedes it ; and that in the first instance it is wanting in 
the oldest manuscripts ; and in the second, it is wanting 
in the corresponding portion of Luke. 

What propriety, as applied to the payment of laborers 
in a vineyard, (Matt, xx,) or to the rejection of one guest 
out of many invited to a wedding, (xxii,) is there in say- 
ing, "For many are called but few chosen f ' The author 
of the Epistle of Barnabas, although a simpleton in many 
things, makes a sensible use of the quotation ; and so 
does the author of 4th Esdras; but the writer of the 
first Gospel, or the scribe who interpolated it, does not ; 
in both cases he drags it in by the hair. 

The Epistle makes the ascension of Jesus take place on 
the same day as the resurrection. 



HERMAS. 201 

An apocryphal " Gospel according to Barnabas " was 
condemned by Pope Gelasius, (a. d. 492-6.) It is said to 
have a close affinity with Matthew. "Was this the same 
Gospel of Barnabas of which Robert Taylor says (Die- 
gesis, p. 373) there is extant an Italian translation, in 
which it is asserted that " Jesus Christ was not crucified^ 
but that he was taken up into the third heavens by the 
ministry of four angels, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and 
Uriel; that he should not die till the very end of the 
world, and that it was Judas Iscariot who was crucified 
instead?" If such was the theology of Barnabas, no 
wonder he and Paul parted. 

Hermas. 

The " Pastor of Hermas " was probably the most pop- 
ular book in the church during the 2d, 3d, and 4th cen- 
turies. It is contained in the Sinaitic codex of the New 
Testament, and was quoted by the Fathers as Holy 
Scripture. In early times it was attributed to the Hermas 
mentioned in Romans xvi, 14, but an ancient fragment in 
Liatin, supposed to have been written about a. d. 200, 
says: 

' ' The Pastor was written in our times in the city of Eome by 
Hermas, while Bishop Pius, his brother, sat in the chair of the 
church." (a. D. 142-157.) 

It is not certain, however, that the name of the author 
is any more real than the character of his work. 

Eusebius says that a difference of opinion prevailed in 
his day as to the inspiration of the Book ; but Ireneus 
quotes it as Scripture, Clement of Alexandria regards 
its revelations as divine, Origen claims it as divinely in- 
spired, and TertuUian alone of all the Fathers rejects it 
outright. But TertuUian had embraced Montanism, with 
which the views of the "Pastor" did not harmonize. 



202 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

It is a book of " Visions," about as edifying as the 
average rhapsody of a "speaking medium." It has no 
quotation from the Old or New Testament. The only 
direct Scripture quotation in it is this : 

' ' The Lord is nigh unto them who return unto him, as it is writ- 
ten in Eldad and Modat, who prophesied to the people in the wil- 
derness. " 

Eldad and Modad are named as prophets in Num. xi, 
26, 27, and the book of their prophecies once existed 
among the Apocrypha. 

Hermas, like Esdras and Daniel, has a vision of the 
Son of God in the person of a very tall and glorious man 
standing in the midst of other men ; but neither Jesus 
nor Christ is once mentioned in the whole Book. 

In one of his visions Hermas sees an old woman, who, 
after a few words of exhortation, reads to him a homily 
from a book, the last sentence of which he remembers 
and records. It is about the wisdom and power of God, 
and might be mistaken for a passage from the Psalms or 
the Prophets, but for an allusion to the " holy church." 
A year afterwards the same old woman reappears with 
another book, and wishes Hermas to take a report of its 
contents to the elect of God. Pleading a poor memory, 
he asks permission to transcribe it. She loans it to him 
for that purpose, and he copies every letter, but without 
understanding a word. Fifteen days later, after fasting 
and prayer, the writing is revealed to him. It is ad- 
dressed to him personally, speaks of God and his Son, 
and ends with the aforesaid quotation from Eldad and 
Modad. 

A curious revelation follows in the next chapter. A 
young man appears to Hermas in his sleep and says : 

" ' Who do you think that old woman is from whom you received 
the book? ' And I said, ' The Sibyl.' ' You are in a mistake,' says 



HERMAS. 203 

he ; 'it is not the Sibyl.' ' Who is it then? ' say I. And he said, 
* It is the church.' " (Vis. 2, ch. 4.) 

But was it indeed a mistake of Hermas ? He was a 
Gnostic. His Christ, if lie liad any, was not a Galilean 
Jesus, but an ideal Son of God. Twice he sees what he 
supposes to be a Sibyl. She reads to him from a book 
about God and the church. 'She loans him another in 
which God and his Son are mentioned. This book he 
transcribes. It is for the direction of " those who preside 
over the church." And yet he believes the woman to be 
the Sibyl. If the most popular Christian writer of the 
2d century had to be taught by an angel to distinguish 
between the Sibyl and the church, what stronger evidence 
do we need that the earliest churchmen were Sibyllists^ 
and that the most ancient Sibyl not only commended 
the worship of one God, but recognized the existence of 
his Son? 

A third time the old woman appeared to Hermas, and 
asked him if he had delivered the book to the presbyters ? 
He said he had not. Then she said she had more to add ; 
he would therefore have to write out two books, one to 
be sent to Clement, (of Eome 1) and the other to Grapte, 
(a supposed deaconess,) for the edification of the church. 

Mosheim calls the author an impostor. What a reflec- 
tion upon the Fathers of the church, that they were be- 
guiled by the biggest divinely inspired fraud of the 2d 
century ! 

For a lesson in morals commend us to the " Pastor," 
(Book ii, com. 3.) An angel was instructing Hermas con- 
cerning the value of truth, and its necessity to salvation. 
Hermas wept. "Why do you weep?" said the angel. 
"Because," said Hermas, "I know not if I can be saved." 
" Why ? " inquired the angel. " Because, Sir, I never 
spoke a true word in my life, but have ever lived in dis- 



204 



THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 



similation, and have affirmed a lie for the truth to all ; and 
no one ever contradicted me, but credit was given to my 
word. How then can I live, since I have acted thus? " 
The angel replied, " Your feelings are indeed right and 
sound, for you ought as a servant of God to have walked 
in truth, and not to have joined an evil conscience with 
the spirit of truth, nor to have caused sadness to the holy 
and true spirit of God." " Never, Sir," said Hermas, 
" did I listen to these words with so much attention." 
" Now you hear them and keep them," answered the angel, 
" that even the falsehoods which you formerly told in your 
transactions may come to be believed through the truth- 
fulness of your present statements. For even they can 
become worthy of credit, if you speak the truth in future ; 
and if you keep the truth it will be possible for you to 
obtain life." 

Such Christian ethics, though generally upheld by the 
primitive church, has gown into disfavor in modern times. 
And yet it survives in the doctrine of Dr. Paley that it 
is right to lie to anybody who has no business to know 
the truth ; and more recently in the doctrine of the Rev. 
Thomas K. Beecher that " perjury with advanced minds 
is no sin." Antichrist believes in human progress, but 
if the doctrines of Hermas, Paley, and Beecher are to 
prevail, then optimism must yield to pessimism, and 
evolution to devolution. 

Ignatius. 

Of the fifteen Epistles of Ignatius, eight are univer- 
sally admitted to be spurious. None of the latter are 
quoted or referred to prior to the 6th century. Of the 
other seven there are two Greek versions, a longer and a 
shorter. Both cannot be authentic, and Dr. Lardner 
doubts the genuineness of either, while other rigidly 



IGNATIUS. 205 

Orthodox critics reject them altogether. " There is noth- 
ing more abominable," says John Calvin, " than that trash 
which is in circulation under the name of Ignatius." 
Due allowance, however, must be made for the partisan 
bias of Calvin. The Ignatian Epistles, if genuine, proved 
Episcopacy to be the primitive form of church organiza- 
tion, and Calvin was the father of Presbyterianism. 

By the discovery in 1842 of a still shorter ancient 
Syriac version of three of the Epistles, the worthlessness 
of the Greek versions became manifest. Ignatius was a 
Syrian ; why should he write in Greek ? It is doubtful 
if even Paul knew much Greek. (Acts xxi, 38-40.) 

But the authenticity of the Syriac version is now also 
upset by the discovery that Ignatius was not taken to 
Rome, as all the Epistles assert or imply, but was cast to 
wild beasts in his own city, Antioch, Dec. 20, a. d. 115. 
This is admitted by Dr. Davidson, who also says the 
Epistles were written after a. d. 150. (Int. to N. T., 
vol. i, p. 19.) 

In Dec, A. D. 115, the Emperor Trajan was stopping 
at Antioch. A fearful earthquake, which lasted seven 
days and came near killing the Emperor himself, created 
such excitement among the superstitious people that Ig- 
natius was sacrificed to appease the wrath of the gods. 
In the absence of any further evidence on the subject, 
Ignatius has not as much claim to the title of a Christian 
martyr as one of the Salem witches. 

And yet in a document entitled " The Martyrdom of 
Ignatius," purporting to have been written by persons 
who accompanied him from Antioch to Rome, we have a 
detailed account of his condemnation, journey, and 
death ; and in spite of the fact that no reference to the 
document can be traced prior to the 7th century, some 



206 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

critics try to persuade themselves that it is in part 
genuine. 

The following is a synopsis of this idle legend : Igna- 
tius, the disciple of John the Apostle, governed the 
church at Antioch. The storm of persecution under 
Domitian (a. d. 81-96) having passed by, he v^as grieved 
that he had not attained to the perfect rank of a disciple 
of Christ by martyrdom. But at length to his great de- 
light Trajan began to threaten v^rith persecution and 
death those who refused to worship demons or sacrifice 
to idols. In the 9th year of his reign (a. d. 106) the Em- 
peror being on his way to battle against the Armenians 
and Parthians, stopped at Antioch. Here was an oppor- 
tunity. At his own desire Ignatius was brought before 
Trajan, when the following dialogue took place : 

Trajan. — "Who art tlaou, evil demon, who art zealous thyself to 
trangress our commands, and persuadest others to do the same, so 
that they should miserably perish ? 

Ignatius. — No one ought to call Theophorus [one who carries 
God] wicked, for all the demons have departed from the servants of 
God. But if because I am an enemy to these [demons] you call me 
wicked in respect to them, I quite agree with you ; for inasmuch as I 
have Christ the king of heaven [within me] I destroy all the devices 
of these [evil demons.] 

Tra. — And who is Theophorus ? 

Ign. — He who has Christ within his breast. 

Tra. — Do we not then seem to you to have the gods in our mind, 
whose assistance we enjoy in fighting against our enemies? 

Ign. — Thou art in error when thou callest the demons of the 
nations gods. For there is but one God, who made heaven, and 
earth, and the sea, and all that are in them ; and one Jesus Christ, 
the only begotten Son of God, whose kingdom may I enjoy. 

Tra. — Do you mean him who was crucified under Pontius Pilate ? 

Ign. — I mean him who crucified my sin, with him who was the 
inventor of it, and who has condemned all the deceit and malice 
of the devil under the feet of those who carry him in their heart. 

Tra. — Dost thou then carry within thee him that was crucified ? 



IGNATIUS. 207 

Ign. — Truly so ; for it is written, ' ' I will dwell in them and walk 
in them." [2 Cor., vi, 16.] 

Tra. — We wmmand that Ignatius, who affirms that he carries 
about within him him that was crucified, be bound by soldiers and 
carried to the great [city] Rome, there to be devoured by the beasts 
for the gratification of the people. 

Ign. — I thank thee, Lord, that thou hast vouchsafed to honor 
me with a perfect love toward thee, and hast made me to be bound 
with iron chains, like thy Apostle Paul. 

Then Ignatius with delight clasped the chains about 
him, and commending with prayers and tears his church 
to the Lord, was hurried away by the soldiers. Setting 
sail from the port of Seleucia, they first disembarked at 
Smyrna, where he met his old fellow-disciple Polycarp, 
who was then Bishop of that city, (and fifty years later 
died a martyr.) After a grand reception by Polycarp 
and his church he wrote an Epistle to the church at 
Bome. Three more of the seven Epistles purport to have 
been written from Smyrna. The next landing was at 
Troas. This was a round-about way to Rome, especially 
when both soldiers and prisoner were in haste to get 
there in time for the public spectacles. At Troas three 
more Epistles purport to be written. The next landing 
was at Neapolis, in Macedonia. Thence they journeyed 
on foot through Macedonia to the Adriatic Sea, a distance 
of about 300 miles. At Philippi, on this circuitous over- 
land route, three of the eight so-called spurious Epistles 
purport to be written. The rest of the journey was made 
by sea. Reaching Rome on the last day of the public 
spectacles, when the attendance was greatest, no time 
was lost in completing the final act in the drama. Then 
was the desire of the venerable Bishop fulfilled. His 
flesh was devoured by the wild beasts, and " only the 
harder portions of his holy remains were left, which were 
conveyed to Antioch and wrapped in linen, as an ines- 



208 THH APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

timable treasure left to the holy church by the grace 
which was in the martyr." 

The writers of the legend add that the martyrdom 
took place on the 20th of Dec, in the second consulate of 
Sura and Senecio. That was a. d. 107, and agrees with 
the date given at the outset. But it being impossible to 
make it conform to history, many have set the date for- 
ward nine years, in the last year of Trajan, a. d. 116. But 
this also is now shown to be one year too late. 

On the night following the martyrdom the writers say 
that some of them saw in their sleep the blessed Ignatius 
standing up and embracing them, while others beheld 
him praying for them, and others saw him standing by 
the Lord in a dripping sweat, as if he had just come fi'om 
his great labor. Wherefore they recommend the celebra- 
tion of the day of the martyrdom which they have been 
so careful to make known. But they made an error of 
eight years in the chronology and 1,500 miles in the loca- 
tion. 

POLYCAEP. 

Polycarp is believed to have suffered martyrdom about 
A. D. 167, at the age of 86. This would have put his birth 
about A. D. 81. Ireneus, who must have been born before 
A. D. 140, claims in his early youth to have seen Polycarp, 
who, he says, was appointed Bishop of Smyrna by the 
Apostles. What Apostles ? Nobody claims that any but 
John was living when Polycarp was born. Well, then, 
just think of John in the last year of his life, a. d. 99, 
ordaining Polycarp, aged 18. 

Again, Ireneus says that Polycarp conversed with 
many who had seen Christ. Quite likely, even though 
Christ had been dead more than fifty years — or five 
thousand, if you please — before Polycarp was born. 
Paul and five hundred other brethren had seen Christ 



POLYCAEP. 209 

in a vision. In like manner Christians and Spiritualists 
see him now, and in no other way did those who ordained 
Polycarp see Christ. 

Some critics have sought to date the Epistle of Poly- 
carp as early as a. d. 120, but the preponderance of opin- 
ion assigns it to the latter half of the 2d century. Its 
authenticity is doubtful, and it is largely interpolated, if 
not altogether spurious. 

The " Martyrdom of Polycarp " purports to be an 
Epistle from the church of Smyrna to the church at 
Philomelium, a city of Phrygia. It was formerly re- 
garded as containing a truthful and early account of the 
circumstances attending the martyrdom, but it is now 
admitted to be at least in great part false, and commonly 
assigned to a much later date than a. d. 167. No rational 
critic can believe that part of the story which says that 
Polycarp's body, though enveloped in flames, was not 
consumed, so that the executioner had to stab him with 
a sword, whereupon the blood gushed forth and put out 
the fire. One version says that not only blood but a dove 
came forth from the wound. 

Conceding the fact of the martyrdom of Polycarp and 
of some other so-called Christians before and after him, 
it does not follow that the Homan Emperors commanded 
or even sanctioned those acts. On the contrary, the tes- 
timony of Melito and Tertullian forbids any such infer- 
ence, and Gibbon maintains that religious toleration was 
the settled policy of the Roman government. The Asiatic 
provinces seem to have been the theatre of most of the 
religious turmoils in the 2d century, and ere the slow 
arm of the Empire could arrest the hand of persecution 
doubtless human lives were sacrificed. This is apparent 
from the edicts of the four successive Emperors, Trajan, 



210 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

Adrian, Antoninus, and Aurelius, forbidding persecution 
for religious opinion. 

Assuming tlie truth of Trajan's letter to Pliny, it for- 
bade him to seek after the Christians, and only permitted 
the punishment of those who presented themselves — that 
is, willing martyrs. But the edict contained in the Syriac 
document forbade persecution under penalty of death. 
Without questioning the fact of such an edict, one reason 
for discrediting the Syriac copy is, that it purports to 
repeal a prior command by the same Emperor to perse- 
cute the Christians. And to show that this point is well 
taken, the decree of Antoninus, issued in the 15th year 
of his reign, (a. d. 153,) professes to follow the example 
of his " most divine father," (Trajan,) who wrote to some 
of the governors of provinces (Pliny, perhaps, for one) 
" that they should not at all disturb such persons unless 
they were found to be attempting anything against the 
government." (Justin's 1st Apol.) 

The edict of the preceding Emperor Adrian (a. d. 117- 
138) is even more decidedly against religious persecution. 
It orders that if a man accuses a Christian from mere cal- 
umny, without proving a violation of law, "you shall 
award him more severe punishments in proportion to his 
wickedness." (Ibid.) 

And the edict of Aurelius (a. d. 161-180) is equally 
strong. It counsels that no person be accused " on the 
ground of his being a Christian," and that where no other 
charge is brought, the accuser be " burned alive." (Ibid.)* 

It was in the reign of this last Emperor that Polycarp 
is believed to have been burnt at the stake, for no other 
cause than his refusal to swear by Cesar and sacrifice to 
the gods. Thrice it is said the herald proclaimed, "Poly- 

* Neander and others believe this edict to be a forgery. (Mos. 
Eccl. Hist., vol. i, p. 135, Murdock's note.) 



PAPIAS. 211 

carp has confessed that he is a Christian," and then the 
whole multitude of Heathen and Jews of Smyrna cried 
out with one consent that he should be burnt alive. 
Perhaps he did thus die ; perhaps his only crime was 
being a Christian, and perhaps, as the legend says, he was 
the twelfth martyr of Smyrna and Philadelphia ; but it is 
folly to pretend that the Roman government sanctioned 
his martyrdom. Indeed, he may have been no more a 
Christian martyr than his so-called fellow disciple Igna- 
tius, who died fifty-one or two years before. As it was 
in the beginning, is now, and ever will be, that the mar- 
tyred sinners outnumber the martyred saints, even as the 
hairs of the head outnumber the fingers of the hand. 

Papias. 

Papias, Bishop of Hieropolis, in Phrygia, is said to 
have suffered martyrdom about a. d. 164-7. He wrote 
five books entitled " Exposition of the Lord's Oracles," 
from which Eusebius could extract but little worthy of 
transmission. The statement of Ireneus that Papias was 
a hearer of the Apostolic John, Eusebius corrects (iii, 39) 
by quoting from Papias as follows : 

"If it happened that any one came who had followed the Pres- 
byters, I inquired minutely after the words of the Presbyters, what 
Andrew or what Peter said, or what Philip, or what Thomas or 
James, or what John or Matthew, or what any other of the disciples 
of the Lord, and what Aristion and the Presbyter John, the dis- 
ciples of the Lord say ; for I held that what was to be derived from 
books was not so profitable as that from the living and abiding voice 
[of tradition.] " 

Two Johns are here named, and Eusebius adds that 
Papias often mentions and quotes Aristion and the Pres- 
byter John, of both of whom he says he was a hearer. 
Most critics admit that Papias could not have known the 



212 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

Apostle John. Indeed, how could he, when John's death 
is fixed at least 65 years before that of Papias ? 

In a former essay we noticed the wonderful grape-vines 
that Ireneus said that Papias said that John said that 
Jesus said were goingf to grow in the good time coming ; 
each vine yielding 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 grapes, 
and each grape producing 216 gallons of wine. Such 
absurd Millenarian views were not acceptable to Eusebius, 
who seemed inclined to reject the book of Kevelation 
itself. He thought Papias •' very limited in his compre- 
hension," and Ireneus not much broader in his ; but if 
either of them could fathom the depth of 216 gallons of 
wine multiplied by 20 decimals, he must have had an un- 
commonly "level head." 

The following quotation from Papias (Eus. iii, 39) is 
claimed by some to refer to the Gospel of Mark : 

"And the Presbyter Jolin also said: Mark having become the 
interpreter of Peter, wrote accurately what he remembered, though 
he did not arrange in order the things which were either said or 
done by Christ. For he was neither a hearer of the Lord, nor 
followed him ; but afterwards, as I said, accompanied Peter, who 
adapted his teaching to the occasion, and not as making a consecu- 
tive record of the discourses of the Lord. Mark therefore did not 
do wrong in thus writing down some things as he remembered them. 
For in one point he was careful, to omit none of the things which 
he heard, and not to narrate any of them falsely. " 

That Mark, as the interpreter or hearer of Peter, wrote 
the second Gospel was a very prevalent tradition of the 
2d, 3d, and 4th centuries. But it is now scarcely an open 
question whether the description of Papias applies to the 
2d Gospel. Clement of Alexandria and others say it was 
vnritten by Mark at Home, where Peter had been preach- 
ing. So also " The Preaching of Peter," one of the most 
ancient works of the Christian church, was held to have 
been written at Rome in connection with the preaching 



PAPIAS. 213 

there of Peter and Paul. Papias does not call the work 
ascribed to Mark a Gospel. All the Gospels prior to our 
four are lost, and so is " The Preaching of Peter." 

In a work written by a hearer of Peter we would 
naturally expect to find Peter quite prominent. But he 
is far less so in the 2d than in the 1st or 3d Gospel. 
Some of Mark's omissions are these : 

The distinguished addition " called Peter," in the call- 
ing of Simon. Peter's name as one of the two disciples 
sent to prepare the Passover. The narrative of Peter's 
miraculous draught of fishes. His walking on the sea. 
The blessing of Peter for discovering that Jesus was the 
Christ. The building of the church upon Peter. The 
directing of Peter to catch a fish with a coin in its mouth. 
The reproachful look of Jesus when Peter denied him. 
The expression "bitterly " when Peter wept. 

These omissions have been attributed to Peter's mod- 
esty. A peculiar kind of modesty indeed, to omit im- 
portant passages and events lest the chief Apostle should 
seem too prominent, and to suppress the bitterness of 
his penitence ! 

But what had Peter to do in any way with the work of 
Mark ? Clement of Alexandria says Mark wrote the Gos- 
pel at the request of friends, " which when Peter knew he 
neither hindered nor encouraged it." And Ireneus, an 
earlier writer, says the Gospel was written after the death 
of Peter. So, according to the evidence, Peter was either 
indifferent about the matter or dead. Mark therefore had 
no motive for lowering the prominence of Peter. 

But how can Papias's description apply to our 2d Gos- 
pel? He says " Mark did not arrange in order the things 
which were either said or done by Christ," did not make 
^' a consecutive record of the discourses of the Lord," and 
"was careful to omit none of the things which he heard." 



214 THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 

The Gospel of Mark is an orderly and consecutive work, 
and omits many most important things with which Peter 
was especially concerned. 

In view of these discrepancies and other difficulties, the 
great majority of critics are agreed that what Eusebius 
says that Papias says that the Presbyter John said about 
Mark's writing what Peter said that the Lord said, does 
not apply to our 2d Gospel at all, but to some prior lost 
book. 

Papias anyhow was not of much account. He thought 
books were not so profitable as tradition. How much 
value, therefore, could he attach to a book written by 
Mark or anybody else ? He himself undertook to write 
an interpretation of the Lord's discourses as he heard 
them from those who " followed the Presbyters." No 
wonder his work was not appreciated nor preserved. 

After quoting the passage from Papias concerning 
Mark, Eusebius adds the following account of the work 
ascribed to Matthew by Papias : 

" Matthew composed the Oracles in the Hebrew dialect, and every- 
one Interpreted them as he was able." 

All that Papias knew about Mark and Matthew was 
hearsay. If Matthew wrote a book in Hebrew very few 
would have been able to read it. If he wrote in Aramaic, 
the people outside of Syria and Mesopotamia would have 
required an interpreter. Papias calls Matthew's work 
Oracles or Discourses, {logia.) Papias himself wrote an 
" Exposition of the Lord's logia" But Mark, he says, 
wrote " the things which were either said or done by 
Christ," making a clear distinction between the logia of 
himself and Matthew, and the lecthenta and practhenta 
of Mark, and there is no clew to any other meaning of 
the word logia. than Oracles or Discourses. 

The following fragment from Papias, transmitted hy 



PAPIAS. 215 

^cumenius, (about a. d. 1000,) expressly contradicts the 
account of the death of Judas Iscariot in Matthew : 

"Judas walked about in this world a great example of impiety ; 
for his body having swollen so that he could not pass where a chariot 
could easily pass, he was crushed by the chariot so that his bowels 
were emptied out." 

For these and other reasons, the great majority of 
critics deny that the work described by Papias is the 
same as our Gospel of Matthew. He had reference, no 
doubt, to some of the many prior works now lost, out of 
which our Gospels grew. The language was probably 
Aramaic, which foreigners were likely to confound with 
Hebrew, then a dead language, and not until the Greeks 
translated the Aramaic Gospels was the word Peter 
known as applied to an Apostle of Jesus Christ. 

The last in the list of supposed writings of the Apostolic 
Fathers is the Epistle to Diognetus. There is no clue to 
its authorship or date ; but even if written early in the 
2d century its contents are of no critical value. 

Our spectrum analysis of the so-called Apostolic Fa- 
thers is now complete. Their dim light shining through 
the prism of chronology and magnified by the telescope 
of history, exhibits no Apostolic color-band, with one pos- 
sible exception : Clement alone shows a faint but very un- 
certain trace of connection with Paul — that is, Clement 
of Philippi, not of Eome. In the Epistle ascribed to him, 
written perhaps soon after the death of Paul, he mentions 
the latter as a martyr, and couples him with another Apos- 
tolic martyr — probably James of Jerusalem — and he also 
names ApoUos and Kepha ; but he knew no more of any 
Galilean Apostles than we do — that is, nothing at all, be- 
cause they never existed. 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

There are thirteen Apocryphal Gospels — six relating to 
the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, and seven relating 
to the crucifixion and subsequent events. There is abun- 
dant evidence of the existence in the 2d century of many 
of the traditions contained in some, if not all of these 
Gospels, though it is impossible to prove that any of 
them then existed in their present form. We propose 
to give an abridgment of each one, avoiding repetition of 
the many parts in common. 

The Peotevangelion. 

This work purports to be written by James in Jerusa- 
lem. Origen mentions a book by James, but it is by no 
means clear that he refers to this. Justin twice refers to 
the cave in which Christ was born, which implies the ex- 
istence of a Gospel story similar to this as early as a. d. 
150. From the end of the 4th century down, frequent al- 
lusions are made to statements made in the Protevange- 
lion. The substance of the legend is as follows : 

Joachim, a rich man, brought offerings to the Lord. 
Rubim the priest told him he must do so no more be- 
cause he was childless. Joachim in great grief retired 
to the mountains, resolved to fast and pray until he could 
become a father. His wife Anna knowing not what had 
become of him, and supposing him dead, began to bewail 
her childless widowhood. But soon she put off her 
mourning garments, and resuming her wedding dress 
took a walk in the garden. Sitting under a laurel tree 
she prayed, not for a husband but for a child. Looking 
up she saw a sparrow's nest. " Alas ! O Lord," she said, 

216 



THE PKOTEVANGELION. 217 

" why am I not like the birds or beasts which are pro- 
ductive before thee 1 I have become a reproach to the 
sons of Israel, and they have driven me in derision out 
of the temple of the Lord." 

Just then a good angel appeared and promised to an- 
swer Anna's prayer. Presently two more angels came 
and told her her husband was alive and coming home ; 
for another angel had heard Joachim's prayer and prom- 
ised an answer. 

The reunion of husband and wife was joyful. Joachim 
made a grand offering of goats, lambs, and calves to the 
priests, and in due time, reckoning no doubt from the 
good angel's visit in the garden, a female child was born, 
and they called her Mary. 

Mary was a precocious infant. At six months she walked 
seven steps, and her mother vowed to consecrate her to 
the temple. On her first birthday the parents made a 
grand feast. Anna composed a song for the occasion, 
and the priests prayed God to bless the baby with an 
everlasting name. When the child was two years old 
Joachim wanted to put her in the temple, but Anna per- 
suaded him to wait another year. So at three years of 
age Mary was consecrated, and from that time onward 
she dwelt in the temple and was fed by an angel. 

.When she reached the age of twelve the priests held a 
council to determine what to do with her, "lest per- 
chance," said they, " she defile the sanctuary of the 
Lord." For shame, O priests ! Base, groundless suspi- 
cion ! Was not the maiden under your pious care, and 
had she not a guardian angel besides ? Unable to settle 
the question themselves, the council submitted it to the 
high priest Zacharias. He went into the holy of holies 
and asked the Lord what to do. The angel of the Lord 
told him to summon all the widowers, each one to bring 



218 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

his rod. The heralds went forth and blew the trumpet 
through all Judea. The widowers came, Joseph the car- 
penter among the rest. The high priest took each man's 
rod into the temple and prayed for a sign. Joseph's 
turn came last. Out of his rod came a dove which flew 
upon his head. " Thou hast been chosen by lot," said 
the priest, " to take unto thy keeping the Virgin of the 
Lord." 

Joseph was not pleased. Perhaps he thought it was a 
put-up job. " I am an old man and have children," said 
he, " and if I keep this young girl I shall become a laugh- 
ing-stock." But the priest said, " Fear the Lord, and re- 
member what he did to Dathan, Abiram, and Korah." 
So Joseph being afraid to refuse, took Mary home, leav- 
ing her to the Lord's care while he went away to work at 
his trade. 

Soon afterwards the priests wanted a veil made for the 
temple, and they chose the maker by lot out of seven 
select virgins of the family of David, among whom was 
Mary. (Here we find the missing link in the regal chain 
from David to Christ. Mary was of the royal family even 
though Joseph was not the father of Jesus.) The lot 
fell upon Mary to spin the yarn and make the veil, which 
she did to the satisfaction of the high priest. 

While engaged in this pious duty Mary had a revela- 
tion from an angel. As she went for a pitcher of water 
she heard a voice addressing her, but saw nobody. 
Trembling with fright she ran back to the house. The 
angel followed her. Now she saw him and heard him 
repeat more definitely the announcement made outside, 
that the grace of the Lord was with her, and she should 
become a mother. In answer to her inquiry how such a 
thing could happen, the angel explained in almost the 
identical words of Luke and Matthew. 



THE PROTEVANGELION. 219 

The visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth is described 
in nearly the same language as in Luke. After remain- 
ing away three months she returned and hid herself on 
account of the delicacy of the situation. Her age at this 
time is variously stated. One manuscript has it 14, two 
15, six 16, and one 17. 

Joseph now came home, and discovering what was the 
matter was much agitated. He reproached Mary, but 
she protested her innocence, calling God to witness that 
she did not know how it was. What a fib ! Had not the 
angel told her " the power of the Lord shall overshadow 
thee f And did not an angel afterwards explain it satis- 
factorily to Joseph himself in almost the same language 
spoken to Mary ? 

The absence of Joseph from the synagogue on the first 
day after his return was noticed, and the scribe went to 
see him about it. While Joseph was pleading fatigue 
from his journey as an excuse, the scribe turned and saw 
Mary. Straightway he ran and informed the high priest 
against Joseph and Mary. They were summoned to 
answer the charge of a secret marriage. Both asserted 
their innocence, but the high priest resorted to the test 
prescribed by Moses. (Num. v, 11-31.) The poisoned 
water was drank, but without harm to either. So they 
were acquitted and discharged. 

The next trouble Joseph had was about the enrollment 
at Bethlehem. He could enroll his sons, but what was the 
status of Mary? Everybody knew she was not hia 
daughter, and he could not conscientiously enroll her as 
his wife when such was not the fact. He wisely deter- 
mined at length to let the Lord settle that question. 
Putting Mary upon an ass, his son Samuel led the animal 
while he and his two other sons, Jalnes and Simon, fol- 
lowed. Another reading omits the two latter sons. 



220 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

Before reaching Bethlehem Mary had to be taken down 
from the donkey. Fortunately there was a cave at hand, 
and Joseph led her into it. Leaving his two sons with 
her, he went in search of a midwife. Meeting a woman 
who claimed to be such, he explained the case to her. 
She doubted the story, but consented to attend. Enter- 
ing the cave she saw a luminous cloud, which presently 
disappeared and was succeeded by an unbearable lights 
which gradually decreased until the infant appeared. 

Out went the astonished midwife, and meeting her 
friend Salome, told her what a strange sight she had 
seen. Salome was as skeptical about a virgin becoming 
a mother as Thomas was about a risen Jesus, and swore 
she would not believe it without a physical test. So the 
midwife led her in and asked Mary to allow the test. 
Mary consented, and Salome having applied it, cried out, 
"I have tempted the living God, and behold my hand is 
dropping off as if burned with fire." The test was more 
than satisfactory, and Salome prayed God to restore her 
hand. Her prayer was answered by an angel, who 
directed her to take the infant. She did so, and her 
hand was restored. Going out of the cave a voice 
warned her not to tell these things until the child came 
to Jerusalem. 

The Magi's visit and Herod's massacre are told with 
slight variations from Matthew. Hearing of the slaughter 
of the innocents, Mary hid Jesus in an ox-stall, and Eliza- 
beth took her little Johnny up into a mountain, which 
was kind enough to open and receive them. Herod being 
particularly anxious to kill the infant John, under the 
strange impression that he was to be the promised king 
of Israel, sent officers to make the father, Zacharias, tell 
where he had hidden his son. The high priest declared 
he did not know where the boy was. Herod sent again, 



THE PROTEVANGELIOK. 



221 



threatening him with death. But Zacharias either could 
not or would not tell. So he was murdered at the altar. 
This was the same high priest that " bull-dozed " Joseph 
into taking Mary. 

The murder of Zacharias took place about daybreak. 
In the morning, one of the other priests venturing into 
the holy of holies discovered clotted blood but no corpse, 
and when the rest of the priests went in the blood had 
turned to stone. There ought to have been a coroner's 
inquest to find out how the blood got turned to stone. 

After three days' mourning the priests raffled for a suc- 
cessor, and the lot fell on Simeon, the same old man who 
had been warned by the Holy Spirit that he should not 
die until he had seen Christ in the flesh. 

The book ends with the following attestation : 

*' And I James that wrote this history in Jerusalem, a commotion 
having arisen when Herod died, withdrew myself to the wilderness 
until the commotion in Jerusalem ceased, glorifying the Lord God, 
who had given me the gift and the wisdom to write this history. 
And grace shall be with them that fear our Lord Jesus Christ, to 
whom be glory to ages of ages. Amen." 

Herod the great baby-killer and murderer of Zacharias 
is here meant. We must therefore either discredit the 
attestation, or believe that the story was written just 
after the death of Herod the Great, b. c. 4. There was 
another Herod, (Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the great,) 
who is said to have killed the writer's namesake about a. d. 
44, and to have died the same year, (Acts xii, 2, 23 ;) but 
the canons of criticism forbid the reference to him. Our 
legend dwells on the cruelties of Herod the great, and it 
would be preposterous to suppose that the writer waited 
half a century for " the gift and the wisdom," ^. e., inspi- 
ration, to uecord the most momentous event that ever oc- 
curred upon earth, namely, the birth of the only begotten 
Son of God. 



222 the apocryphal gospels. 

Pseudo-Matthew: 
Jerome, about a. d. 400, found a Hebrew Gospel of 
Matthew, otherwise called the " Gospel according to the 
Hebrews," which he translated into Greek and Latin. It 
was not the same as our first Gospel, but a supposed 
prefatory work, not now extant. And yet we have an 
Apocryphal Gospel purporting to be the other work of 
Matthew, translated by Jerome. It is prefaced thus : 

" Here beginneth the book of the Birth of the blessed Mary and 
the Infancy of the Savior : Written in Hebrew by the blessed Evan- 
gelist Matthew, and translated into Latin by the blessed Presbyter 
Jerome." 

Then follows a letter purporting to have been addressed 
by two Bishops " to their well-beloved brother Jerome the 
Presbyter," requesting him to make a translation for the 
more especial purpose of putting down a class of heretics 
who had " mingled their own lies with the excellent na- 
tivity of Christ." In reply, Jerome writes that Matthew 
had composed this work somewhat secretly in Hebrew, 
and did not add it to his Gospel. It had been handed 
down untranslated by religious men, but now the times 
justified its publication. 

In another letter to the same Bishops, attributed to 
Jerome, he first says the book was composed by Seleucus, 
and that it contains much that is false ; and then contra- 
dicts himself by saying it is asserted that Matthew wrote 
it, and though he doubts the assertion he will not pro- 
nounce it false. The authenticity of both these letters is 
denied, as not being in the style of Jerome. 

The Book begins with the story of Joachim and Anna, 
which is told at greater length than in the Protevangelion. 
Anna's husband was missing five months before the angel 
in the garden promised an answer to her prayer for off- 
spring. Joachim meanwhile had received a like promise 



PSEUDO-MATTHEW. 223 

from the same angel in the mountains where he had hid- 
den himself. He had gone so far away that it took him 
thirty days to return. His wife met him with great joy, 
saying that she was no longer barren nor a widow. 

In due time Mary was born, and in her third year was 
taken to the temple and dedicated to the Lord. So agile, 
industrious, and prayerful was she that "she was not 
reckoned a young infant, but as it were a grown-up per- 
son of thirty years old." 

Abiathar, a priest, wanted her for a wife, but she had 
resolved to be a perpetual virgin. Custom, nevertheless, 
compelled her to leave the temple at twelve (or fourteen) 
years of age ; so it was resolved that she be entrusted to 
the care of some pious widower. How she fell to Joseph's 
lot has been told in the Protevangelion. There, however, 
it was the high priest Zacharias who intimidated Joseph 
into accepting the charge ; here it was Abiathar, Mary's 
rejected suitor. Joseph pleaded that the girl was younger 
than his grandsons, but as it was God's will he would take 
her, hoping that one of his sons might marry her. 

Five other virgins were quartered on the old man to 
keep Mary company. When it fell to her lot to make a 
veil for the temple, the other girls called her in derision 
" queen of virgins," but an angel appeared and put a stop 
to that annoyance. 

The annunciation to Mary at the fountain was followed 
the next day by a further explanation from " a young man 
of ineffable beauty " — another angel of course. 

Joseph, after nine months' absence, returned from his 
house building, and was so distressed at what he saw that 
he wanted to die. The maidens declared that " nobody 
but the angel of the Lord" had been there. Joseph 
thought they were deceived. " Some one," he said, "has 
pretended to be an angel of the Lord, and has beguiled 



224 THE ArOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

her." But that very night a hoiia fide angel appeared to 
him in his sleep, and satisfied him that the other angel 
was also genuine. 

Then came the trial of Joseph and Mary before Abia- 
thar, her rejected suitor, who in some way not explained 
had been promoted to the high priesthood. Joseph and 
Mary each in turn drank the poisoned water, and it had 
no effect. But yet the people present suspected Mary, 
and were only convinced when she swore by the Lord 
Adonai that she was innocent, and vowed to live a per- 
petual virgin. 

The next scene is the journey to Bethlehem under 
*' the enrollment made by Cyrinus, [Quirinus,] the Gov- 
ernor of Syria," an event which could i;iot have occurred 
prior to a. d. 6, when Jesus, according to the latest Ortho- 
dox authority, (McClintock and Strong's Cyc.,) was twelve 
years old. The birth of Jesus took place in a cave near 
Bethlehem while Joseph was seeking for a midwife. He 
found two, Zeloni and Salome, both of whom were con- 
vinced that Mary, though a mother, was still a virgin. 
Skeptical Salome received a test which paralyzed her 
hand, but it was restored by touching the fringe of the 
cloths in which the babe was wrapped. 

The vision of the shepherds so fully d,escribed in Luke 
ii, 8-20, is here disposed of in four lines. A star larger 
than ever before seen shone over the cave all night, and 
the prophets in Jerusalem said it betokened the birth of 
Christ. 

On the third day Mary left the cave and entered a 
stable, where she "placed the child in a stall, and the 
ox and the ass adored him. Then was fulfilled that which 
was said by Isaiah the prophet, [i, 3,] saying : ' The ox 
knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib.' " 

On the sixth day the family entered Bethlehem, and on 



PSEUDO-MATTHEW. 225 

the eighth the child was christened in the temple after 
the barbarous Jewish fashion. Among the spectators was 
Simeon, who had waited till the age of 120 for the ful- 
filment of the promise that he should see Christ in the 
flesh, and now he was ready to die. The venerable 
prophetess Anna was also there, not much younger than 
Simeon, for this Gospel says, " she had lived with her 
husband seven years from her virginity ; and she had 
now been a widow 84 years." 

The adoration of the Magi is stated to have occurred 
"when the second year was past;" but as another manu- 
script has "when two days were past," and another "on 
the 13th day," we take the first reading to be a clerical 
error. The story of the Magi agrees very nearly with 
that of the 1st Gospel and the Protevangelion. But the 
flight into Egypt and the sojourn there are here given 
at great length, the leading incidents of which are as fol- 
lows : 

Three boys and a girl accompanied the holy family 
into Egypt. The first stopping-place was at a cave. As 
they entered it the children were frightened at the sight 
of many dragons. But Jesus, leaving his mother's lap, 
stood before the monsters, and they straightway adored 
him. Then was fulfilled the saying of David: "Praise 
the Lord from the earth, ye dragons." (Ps, cxlviii, 7.) 
The parents of Jesus feared the dragons might hurt him, 
but he assured them that all such beasts would be tame 
before him. And so it proved, for wherever they went 
lions and ^Danthers bowed their heads and wagged their 
tails in reverence and adoration. Nay, more : the lions 
joined the party and directed the way for the oxen that 
drew the wagon-load of provisions. Even the sheep which 
had been brought along were safe. They travelled among 
wolves and feared nothing. Then was the prophecy ful- 



226 THE APOCEYPHAL GOSPELS. 

filled : " Wolves shall feed with lambs ; the lion and the 
ox shall eat straw together." (Is. Ixv, 25.) Matthew beats 
all on the fulfilment of prophecies. 

On the third day, while resting under the shade of a 
tall palm, the fruit of which Mary longed for but Joseph 
could not reach, Jesus commanded the tree to bow down 
and it obeyed. When all were supplied with fruit Jesus 
ordered the tree to straighten up, and it did. Then, as 
they wanted water, he caused a fountain to flow from its 
roots. In honor of this miracle, angels, at the command 
of Jesus, carried away and planted in Paradise a branch 
of the palm as an emblem of victory. 

On account of the burning heat, Joseph proposed 
going around by the sea-shore. But Jesus at once short- 
ened the rest of the route from thirty days to one, so that 
the mountains of Egypt forthwith appeared in sight. 

The first stopping-place in Egypt is a geographical 
puzzle : " They came into the regions of Hermopolis, 
and entered into a certain city of Egypt which is called 
Sotinen," or " Sotrina." Who ever heard of such a city? 
There was an ancient Hermopolis Magna 300 miles up 
the Nile, and a Hermopolis Parva 37 miles east of Alex- 
andria. To reach the latter region, the delta and all the 
mouths of the Nile had to be crossed. But nothing was 
impossible with Jesus. Knowing no one in Sotinen of 
whom they could ask hospitality for the party of seven 
with their oxen, asses, and sheep, (the lions had no doubt 
now left them,) they went into a temple " called the Cap- 
itol of Egypt," where there were 355 idols, all of which 
prostrated themselves on the ground before the Virgin 
and child and were broken to pieces. Then was fulfilled 
the prophecy : " Behold the Lord will come upon a swift 
cloud and will enter Egypt ; and all the handiwork of the 
Egyptians shall be moved at his presence." (Is. xix, 1.) 



PSEUDO-MATTHEW. 227 

The Governor of the city hearing what was done, 
marched his army to the temple. The priests thought he 
was going to take vengeance on the image-breakers. On 
the contrary, he went up to Mary and adored the infant 
Lord, saying : " Unless this were the God of our gods, 
our gods would not have fallen on their faces before him." 
He then warned his people not to run the risk of God's 
anger, and they all believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Not long after this an angel told Joseph he might re- 
turn to Judea, for they who had sought the child's life 
were dead. One manuscript says the family spent a year 
in the house of a certain widow, and recites a number of 
miracles performed during the year. 

The scene now shifts to Galilee, at some place on the 
Jordan — not Nazareth, which was located about 15 miles 
west of the stream. Jesus had now entered his fourth 
year. Playing one Sabbath day with other children about 
the Jordan, one of them destroyed the pools of clay that 
Jesus had made. The angry Son of God cursed the mis- 
chievous fellow, calling him a " son of Satan," and straight- 
way he fell down dead. The parents of the dead boy 
raised an uproar. Joseph dared not interfere, but asked 
Mary to reprimand her son. She did it gently. Then 
Jesus, not wishing to grieve his mother, gave the dead 
boy a kick, saying, " Rise, thou son of iniquity," and he 
rose and went away. 

On another Sabbath Jesus made a dozen sparrows out 
of wet clay. A Jew complained to Joseph that it was 
wicked for the child to do such things on the Sabbath. 
Joseph ventured to reprove his step-son, when lo ! the 
boy clapped his hands and away flew the clay sparrows. 

On another occasion the son of a priest broke down 
the clay dams which Jesus had made, and let the water 
out. So Jesus damned the boy in this style : " O most 



228 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

wicked seed of iniquity ! O son of death ! O workshop 
of Satan ! " Straightway the naughty boy died. Joseph 
was frightened at this, and hurried Jesus home to his 
mother. On the way another boy ran against Jesus, 
either in fun or mischief. Jesus cursed him also, and 
he died. The parents of the last boy implored Joseph 
to take Jesus out of town, or teach him not to do these 
things. Others joined in the tumult, and Joseph was 
in mortal fear of violence. But the infant Son of God 
set things right by lifting the dead boy up by the ear and 
restoring him to life. Nothing is said, however, about 
restoring the other boy, the son of the priest. 

Zacheus, a schoolmaster, wanted to instruct Jesus " in 
human learning and reverence." Joseph consented. But 
Jesus was insolent, and undertook to teach his teacher. 
Having no father after the flesh, he said he was above 
and before the law, and that he alone knew how long the 
schoolmaster's life on earth would be. The people who 
heard him say these things were astonished ; but he said 
to them : "I will tell you greater things. I have seen 
Abraham whom you call your father, and have spoken 
with him." After this none of them dared to say any 
more. 

Again Jesus, at the instance of Zacheus, was handed 
over to Master Levi to be taught. Levi asked him to 
repeat the first letter, Aleph, but the boy was silent. 
Then Levi struck him on the head with his birch. Jesus 
broke silence, and after rebuking his master, began to 
show him his own superior knowledge in this style : " Let 
the master of the law tell us what the first letter is, or 
why it has many triangles, gradate, subacute, mediate, 
obduced, produced, erect, prostrate, curvistrate." Levi 
was dumbfounded at such precocity, and, like Balaam, 
became at once a seer, crying out that Jesus must have 



PSEUDO-MATTHEW. 229 

been born before the Deluge, and he " ought to be hung 
on the great cross." 

The holy family now moved to Nazareth. The first 
miracle here performed was restoring to life a boy who 
had been knocked off a roof while at play with Jesus and 
other boys. Jesus being accused of pushing him off, in 
order to prove his innocence, restored the boy to life and 
asked him, " Was it I that threw thee down ? " And the 
boy said, " No, my Lord." 

At six years of age Jesus was sent by his mother for 
a pitcher of water. Another child ran against him and 
broke the pitcher. But Jesus carried home a pitcherful 
of water in his cloak. 

Again, he sowed "a little wheat," (the Gospel of 
Thomas says "one grain,") and it yielded three kors — 
eight bushels and a pint. 

At eight years of age he went from Jericho to the Jor- 
dan. (Jericho is about sixty miles south of Nazareth.) 
Near the bank was a den of lions. Jesus in the sight of 
his parents and others went into the den. The young 
lions sported around him, while the old ones bowed their 
heads and wagged their tails in adoration. Jesus came 
out and said to the people who stood afar off, " How much 
better are the beasts than you, seeing that they recognize 
their Lord and glorify him." Then he and the lions 
crossed the Jordan, the waters dividing to make way for 
them, after which he commanded the beasts to return to 
their cave and hurt nobody : " And they, bidding him 
farewell, not only with their gestures, but with their 
voices, went to their own place." 

Joseph had an order to make a couch six cubits (over 
ten feet) long. His apprentice boy in sawing the wood 
for it cut one piece too short. Joseph did not know 
-what to do about it, but Jesus, taking hold of one end 



230 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

while Joseph held the other, stretched out the short piece 
to the right length. 

A third time Jesus was sent to school. The master as 
before struck him because he was insolent, and instantly 
fell down dead. Joseph was afraid the boy would get 
killed for some of these acts, but Mary assured him that 
God would preserve her child. 

A fourth time he was sent to school. Compulsory 
education seemed to be the law of the elders. Jesus took 
the book out of the master's hand and read it. The 
master fell prostrate in humble adoration. Here ended 
the schooling of the Son of God. 

The family now moved to Capernaum. There a rich 
man lay dead ; but he was restored to life in this way : 
Joseph, at the command of Jesus, took a handkerchief 
from his own head and putting it upon the dead man's 
face, said, " Jesus heal thee." Forthwith the dead man 
rose up and asked who Jesus was. 

The next migration was to Bethlehem. Here one day 
Joseph sent his eldest son James into the garden to gather 
vegetables for soup. Jesus followed his elder brother 
into the garden. A viper bit James on the hand, but 
Jesus healed the deadly wound with his breath and the 
serpent died. 

It will be remembered that Joseph objected to keeping 
Mary because she was younger than his grandsons. But 
the oldest son James seems to have been kept at home to 
do chores for his father. He must have been a pretty 
old boy. 

The Book closes with an account of a family feast with 
full attendance of the sons and daughters, together with 
Jesus's aunt Mary. The four sons are named, the same 
as in the 1st and 2d Gospels, but the two daughters are 
not. How Jesus came to have an aunt Mary is explained 



THE NATIVITY OF MARY. 231 

m another manuscript thus : His grandmother Anna, upon 
the death of her husband Joachim, married Cleophas, by 
whom she had a second daughter Mary. 

But this is not all. The second husband died and 
Anna married a third, named Salome, by whom she had 
a third daughter Mary. So you see that Jesus had not 
only one aunt Mary, but two. 

But more; Aunt Mary number one married Alpheus, 
by whom she had James the Apostle ; and aunt Mary 
number two married Zebidee, by whom she had James 
and John the Apostles. So the two Jameses and John 
whom «Tesus chose as his Apostles were all his younger 
second cousins — how much younger the Lord only knows 
— while his half brother James must have been old enough 
to be his grandfather. And yet this brother James, ac- 
cording to tradition, survived Jesus thirty years or more, 
and would have lived longer had he not been murdered 
by a mob in Jerusalem about a. d. 62. 

Finally : The grandmother of Jesus was great aunt to 
John the Baptist, making John and Jesus fourth cousins. 
John seems to have had an antenatal impression, (Luke i, 
41,) which was confirmed thirty years later, that Jesus 
was the Messiah. Nevertheless he grew skeptical at last ; 
for when he was in prison he sent two of his disciples to 
find out whether it was the Christ he had baptized a year 
or so before, or some pretender. (Luke vii, 19.) Nor do 
we know after all whether John believed on his divine 
cousin at last and died a Christian. 

The Nativity of Mary. 

This work is the same in substance as the first part of 
Pseudo- Matthew, yet differing from it in several important 
particulars, indicating another author and probably a later 
date. The original is in Latin, and not a direct transla- 



232 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

tion from the Greek as some parts of Pseudo-Matthew 
appear to be. 

The birth of Mary is located at Nazareth, her father 
being a native of Gahlee, her mother of Bethlehem. The 
name of the high priest is Isaschar instead of Zacharias, 
and he, not Kubim or Ruben, as in the Protevangelion 
and Pseudo-Matthew, reproached Joachim for being child- 
less. Unfortunately there is no Isaschar in the list of high 
priests. 

Mary had reached her 14th year when custom required 
her to quit the temple and get married. But she had 
vowed perpetual virginit3^ The high priest in great per- 
plexity consulted the Lord, and a voice from the oracle 
told him what to do. She was not only entrusted but 
espoused to the old man Joseph, who, after the usual 
ceremonies of betrothal, returned home to Bethlehem, 
while Mary with seven other virgins of her own age went 
back to her parents in Galilee. 

Mary was not terrified at the annunciation as the other 
Gospels say. She had got used to the sight of angels in 
the temple. The speech of the angel telling her what was 
going to happen is given in full, but decency forbids its 
reproduction here. 

After the angelic harangue the author omits further 
details, which he says, have been " fully written in the 
Gospel," meaning probably Pseudo-Matthew, and comes 
at once to the meeting of Joseph and Mary three months 
after the betrothal — not nine as in Matthew. Joseph 
seems to have found out Mary's condition earlier than 
any one would have suspected it. Six months later the 
couple start for Bethlehem. Nothing is said about any 
enrolment, but in such a peculiar state of things Joseph 
would naturally take his betrothed home. Nor is there 
any mention of a cave, but on the contrary it is said 



HISTORY OF JOSEPH THE CARPENTER. 233 

that while they were at Bethlehem " she brought forth her 
first-horn son, as the Holy Evangelists have shown, our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who, with the Father, and the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns, God from everlast- 
ing to everlasting." 

Mark our italics. How many more children did the 
perpetual virgin have after her "first-born son?" How 
many " Holy Evangelists " were there before the Gospel 
of the Nativity of Mary was written ? Luke acknowledges 
the existence of " many," and Ireneus is the first to limit 
the number to four. How is this for a Trinity ? " Our 
Lord Jesus Christ, (one,) with the Father, (two,) and the 
Son, (three,) and the Holy Ghost, (four.)" The Mother 
of God ought to be added to prevent a dead-lock. 

History of Joseph the Carpenter. 

This work was originally written in the Coptic (Egypt- 
ian) language, from which it was translated into Arabic. 
Tischendorf, an eminent Orthodox authority, argues that 
it belongs to the 4th century. The- Book purports to be 
an address made by Jesus to his disciples on the Mount 
of Olives, reported by the Apostles and preserved in the 
library at Jerusalem. After giving them some general 
precepts, he tells the story of his parentage. 

Joseph was a temple-priest and carpenter at Bethle- 
hem. He was a bachelor till 40, and at 89 he was a wid- 
ower with four sons, Judas, Justus, James, and Simon, 
and two daughters, Assia and Lydia. In a former article 
(chap, xxv) we gave some of the main points of the life of 
Joseph and Mary, taken from this work. Avoiding repe- 
tition, we will now glean the other important particulars 
of the story. 

After the birth of Jesus " in a cave near the tomb of 
Hachel," the holy family fled to Egypt to escape the 



234 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

wrath of Herod. "It was this same Herod," says 
Jesus, " who ordered my friend and relative John be- 
headed." That is, after lying in his grave more than 
thirty years, Herod rose and beheaded John ! 

In the journey to Egypt Salome was their fellow- 
traveller. Salome was the name of the third husband of 
Mary's mother. Joseph seems to have left his mother- 
in-law behind. The sojourn in Egypt was one year. 
Then, Herod having died a miserable death, the family 
returned to the land of Israel and lived at Nazareth in- 
stead of Bethlehem. 

Joseph died at the age of 111, having lived with Mary 
21 years from the espousal. Jesus was about 19 when 
the old gentleman died. James was the youngest son, 
not the eldest as Pseudo-Matthew makes him. Joseph 
being informed by an angel that he was about to die, was 
greatly agitated, and went to Jerusalem to pray. There 
he prayed that the frightful demons might be kept away 
so that he could die in peace. Then he returned to Naza- 
reth, where he fell sick for the first time in his life. His 
prayer in the temple seems not to have had any immedi- 
ate effect, for he got dreadfully frightened in view of 
death, and was in utter despair. But after confessing 
his manifold sins and denouncing many woes upon him- 
self until he was well nigh exhausted, he at last resigned 
himself to God's will. 

Then Jesus came to his bedside, saying, " Hail ! my 
father Joseph, thou righteous man ; how is it with thee V 
Straightway hope revived in the dying man ; and he said, 
"All hail ! my well-beloved son ! O Jesus of Nazareth ! 
Jesus the deliverer of my soul ! O sweetest name in my 
mouth ! Thou art my Lord, my God and Savior !" — and 
so forth for a whole page, until he could speak no more. 
Then for a whole hour Jesus held the old man's hands. 



HISTORY OF JOSEPH THE CARPENTER. 235 

Mary touched his feet and found them cold. Then all 
the sons and daughters drew near weeping at the bed- 
side of their dying father. 

Just before Joseph breathed his last a wonderful sight 
appeared. Jesus was the first to see " Death approach- 
ing and all Gehenna with him, closely attended by his 
army and his satellites ; and their clothes, their faces, and 
their mouths poured forth flames." The dying man be- 
holding the terrific sight, wept and groaned. But Jesus 
drove back Death and his hideous host. Then he prayed 
the Father to send Gabriel and Michael to take away the 
soul of Joseph. They came and delivered it to the 
Father enveloped "in a shining wrapper." 

The citizens of Galilee anointed the body with costly 
unguents. Then Jesus repeated a prayer which, says he, 
" I made with my own hand before I was carried in the 
womb of the Virgin Mary." When he pronounced the 
amen a multitude of angels came, two of whom at his 
command wrapped the body in their shining garments. 
Jesus said that it should " remain entire and uncorrupted 
until the banquet of the thousand years" — a supposed 
reference to the Millennium — and that whosoever should 
write the history of Joseph's life and death, " and this 
narrative that has issued from my mouth," should have 
his sins blotted out, and every poor man who should 
name his son Joseph should escape poverty and sudden 
death. 

The angelic shroud stuck to the corpse like iron, and 
could not be removed. At the burial Jesus embraced the 
body and discoursed on death as the penalty for Adam's 
sin. " For this cause," said he, " I must die according to 
the flesh," that mankind " may obtain grace." 

The Apostles having heard this instructive narrative 
from the lips of Jesus, ventured to ask him why he did 



236 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

not make Joseph immortal, like Enoch and Elijah. Jesus 
answered that though God prolongs the life of a good 
man, yet every man must die ; and even Enoch and Elijah, 
though yet living, must return to the world at the end of 
time to be killed by Antichrist. 

Be therefore ready, dear reader, for in such an hour as 
you think not Enoch and Elijah may come, when there 
will be a big fight between them and Antichrist. 

Gospel of Thomas. 

This Gospel is of undoubted antiquity, being men- 
tioned by Origen (a. d. 230) and quoted by Ireneus (190.) 
It comes down to us in four versions, three of which (two 
in Greek and one in Latin) have been translated into 
English. They vary more in length than in substance. 
The first Greek version is longer than the second, but 
shorter than the Latin. The author asserts himself to be 
Thomas, an Israelite. The Latin version begins with the 
flight into Egypt. Jesus, it says, was two years old, and 
the holy family were entertained one year in Egypt at the 
house of a certain widow, when they had to leave on ac- 
count of a miracle that Jesus wrought. While playing 
with other boys he made a dried salt fish swim in a basin. 
This caused such a commotion among the neighbors that 
the hostess thrust Jesus out. Then an angel told Mary 
to take the boy and return to the land of the Jews, which 
she did, going to Nazareth, her native place. 

So far the Latin version alone tells the story ; the rest 
of the incidents, with few exceptions, are common to all 
three versions. Most of them, however, are found in 
Pseudo-Matthew, and have already been given. 

The miracle of causing the twelve mud sparrows to fly 
is said to have been performed at Nazareth when Jesus 



GOSPEL OF THOMAS. 237 

was five years old. Matthew has it at the Jordan when 
he was in his fourth year. 

Then follows the death of the son of Annas the priest. 
Jesus cursed him for breaking down his dams, "and 
straightway that boy was quite dried up." 

Next comes the death of the boy who ran against Jesus, 
(or threw a stone, as the short Greek version has it, and 
struck him on the shoulder.) But the dead boy is not re- 
stored to life, as Matthew has it, by Jesus pulling his ear. 
On the contrary, Joseph pulls Jesus's ear, which makes 
him very angry and insolent. 

The story of his going to school to Zacheus is not very 
different from that of Pseudo-Matthew, only the two school- 
ings are put into one, the Greek alphabet is used instead 
of the Hebrew, and the geometric puzzle which Jesus pro- 
pounded to his teacher is, if possible, more perplexing 
than in Matthew. 

All the foregoing events after the return from Egypt 
are located by Matthew on the Jordan, but Thomas con- 
fines them and all the rest, except one, to Nazareth. 

The story of the boy (here named Zeno) who got killed 
by being pushed off a roof, and was afterwards restored 
to life by Jesus, is substantially the same as in Matthew. 
So likewise is the story of Jesus carrying water in his 
cloak when his pitcher got broken, of the prodigious 
yield of wheat from " one grain," or, as the Latin version 
has it, a handful, and of the stretching out of the short 
piece of wood for a couch. 

In the further schooling of Jesus the master who struck 
him fell down in a swoon, but not dead, as Matthew says. 
After some time another friendly master took the child in 
hand, but was astonished to see him take up a book, and 
though he " did not read the letters that were in it," yet 
he " spoke by the Holy Spirit and taught the law to those 



238 THE APOCHRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

that were standing around." The pedagogue said it was 
no use trying to teach such a prodigy, and for that flatter- 
ing acknowledgment Jesus kindly cured the other master 
who was suffering the penalty of his rude treatment of the 
divine pupil. 

It was while gathering wood, not garden sauce, as 
Matthew has it, that James was bitten by a viper. The 
bite would seem to have proved fatal had not Jesus 
blown upon it, which not only cured the wound but caused 
the reptile to " burst." 

The three following miracles recorded by Thomas are 
not mentioned by Matthew : 

A young man was splitting wood and cut his foot. 
Jesus laid hold of the foot and it was cured. " Kise up, i 
now," said Jesus, " split wood, and remember me." 

A house-builder fell down dead. Jesus took him by 
the hand and bade him rise and resume his work. The 
man rose up and adored him. 

A neighbor's infant died. Jesus touched its breast and 
the infant came to life, looked up and laughed. Jesus 
said to the mother, " Take it, give it milk, and remember 
me." 

At each of these performances the people were aston- 
ished, and declared that Jesus was either God or an 
angel from heaven. 

Thomas's Gospel ends with the story of the dispute 
with the doctors in the temple when Jesus was twelve 
years old. It agrees so nearly with the account in Luke 
ii, 41-52, that one seems to have been taken from the 
other. It is wanting in the short Greek and the Latin 
versions, and it is a significant fact that Marcion's Gospel, 
(a. d. 140,) which bore a remarkably close resemblance to 
our Luke, contained neither this story nor anything of 



THE INFANCY. 239 

the early life of Jesus, but introduced him directly from 
heaven, thus: 

"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesax (Luke iii, 1) 
Je&as came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee." (iv, 31.) 

There is also evidence that the genealogy, birth, and 
infantile history of Jesus were wanting in the earliest 
copies of our 1st Gospel. (Dav. Int. N. T.) It is mani- 
fest that the story of his ministry was first invented, and 
afterwards that of his royal pedigree and supernatural 
birth. But the latter was borrowed from remotest anti- 
quity. Fifteen hundred years before the Christian era a 
virgin princess became a mother by the Supreme Deity, 
and as long as Paganism prevailed it was dangerous to 
doubt that Perseus, Kiug of Mycense, was begotten by 
Jove. 

The Infancy. 

This is the last of the Gospels relating to Joseph, Mary, 
and the infant Jesus. The first three pages are much 
like the ProtevangeHon, and the last eight like the Gospel 
of Thomas ; but the middle and largest portion is of an 
original. Oriental character, reminding one of the Arabian 
Nights. The original language is supposed to have been 
Syriac, and there is no telling when it was composed. 
The writer, after a few words of pious ejaculation and an 
amen, says: 

*' We find what follows in the book of Joseph the high priest, 
who lived in the time of Christ. Some say that he is Caiaphas. He 
has said that Jesus spoke, and indeed when he was lying in his 
cradle said to Mary, his mother, * I am Jesus, the son of God, the 
Logos, whom thou hast brought forth, as the angel Gabriel an- 
nounced to thee ; and my Father has sent me for the salvation of 
the world.' ' 

*' In the 309th year of the era of Alexander [b, c. 2 or 3] Augustus 
put forth an edict that every man should be enrolled in his native 
place. Joseph therefore arose, and taking Mary, his spouse, went 



240 . THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

away to Jerusalem, and came to Bethleliem to be enrolled along 
with his family in his native city." 

Then follows the birth of Jesus in a cave, narrated 
with variations from the Protevangelion. The circum- 
cision takes place in the cave on the eighth day, and the 
midwife preserves the precious relic in a jar of oil of nard, 
which she entrusts to her son, a dealer in unguents, with 
instruction not to sell it even for 300 denarii, ($46.50.) 
"And this is that jar which Mary the sinner brought and 
poured upon the head and feet of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
Not until the fortieth day was the child taken to the 
temple, when old Simeon and Hanna were present. 

For the gifts of the Magi lady Mary gave in return one 
of the swaddling bands, which they received with the 
greatest marks of honor. Eeturning to their own coun- 
try, they lighted a fire and worshipped it according to 
their custom. Then they threw into the flames the 
swaddling cloth, and found it fire-proof. 

After the Magi had gone — ^not before, as the Protevan- 
gelion and 1st Gospel have it — Herod (who, by the way, 
had been dead a year or two) summoned the priests and 
the wise men of Judea, and inquired of them where Christ 
was to be born. 

Now comes the journey to Egypt to escape the wrath 
of the deceased Herod. In the first city they came to 
there was an idol and a hospital dedicated to the same. 
The holy family stopped at the hospital. The people 
when they found the strangers there were afraid some- 
thing was going to happen. So they consulted the idol, 
which told them that a God had come there in secret, aye, 
the Son of God. And when the land became aware of 
his presence it trembled, and the idol fell down. A three- 
year old son of the priest was a demoniac, but by putting 
CD his head one of the newly- washed baby-cloths of Christ 



THE INFANCY. 241 

the demons fled from the child's mouth in the shape of 
ravens and serpents. This, together with the fall not 
only of one but of all the idols, made the priest think it 
possible that the infant stranger was the Son of God. 
" Here," says the writer, "was fulfilled the prophecy which 
says, 'Out of Egypt have I called my Son.'" Striking 
fulfilment ! 

The next incident was the alarm of a band of robbers 
at the approach of the holy family. Imagining they heard 
a great King with an army coming upon them, the rob- 
bers left all their booty and fled. 

In another city a demoniac woman was cured by a piti- 
ful look of Mary. The demon fled in the form of a young 
man, who said, " Woe to me from thee, Mary, and from 
thy son." 

At another town there was a marriage and the bride 
became dumb, but was cured at once by holding and kiss- 
ing the holy child. 

In the same town a woman was tormented by Satan in 
the shape of a serpent, which twisted itself around her. 
She likewise was cured by the same prescription. 

A girl was cured of leprosy by being washed in the 
scented water in which the body of Jesus had been bathed. 
This girl followed the holy family. Coming to another 
city where was a leprous prince, the girl told the prince's 
mother about her own cure, and it was repeated on the 
prince. 

The next cure was of an impotent bridegroom — partic- 
ulars not given, except that he was bewitched. 

Approaching the next city, they found three women 
coming out of a cemetery weeping, who refused to tell 
why they wept, but as night was coming on they per- 
suaded the travellers to accept their hospitality. At the 
house the cause of their grief was disclosed. Their 



242 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

brother, just before he was to be married, had gotten 
bewitched and turned into a mule. The girl told them 
to consult Mary about it. They did so. Mary put Jesus 
upon the mule's back, and the animal became a man 
again. In gratitude for this act the young man married 
the girl. 

In a desert place the family met a band of robbers, two 
of whom, named Titus and Dumachus, kept guard while 
the others slept. Titus wanted to let the family pass, 
but Dumachus said no. So Titus bribed Dumachus to 
let them pass, for which Mary was very grateful, and Je- 
sus said to her, " Thirty years hence, O my mother, the 
Jews will crucify me at Jerusalem, and these two robbers 
will be raised upon the cross along with me, Titus on my 
right hand, and Dumachus on my left ; and after that 
day Titus shall go before me into Paradise." 

At a place called Matarea (ancient Heliopolis, near 
what is now Cairo) Jesus created a fountain in which 
his mother washed his shirt. But that is not all. Mary 
sprinkled there the sweat of the Lord Jesus, and " bal- 
sam was produced in that region." 

At Memphis they saw Pharaoh — though the dynasty of 
Pharaohs had passed away 500 years before. At the end 
of three years the family returned to Judea. At first Jo- 
seph was afraid to go, but hearing that Herod was dead 
and Archelaus had succeeded him, (b. c. 4,) he ventured 
into Judea, when an angel appeared and told him to go 
and live in Nazareth. Whether he did so is not stated, 
but we next hear of the family at Bethlehem. The first 
performance there was the cure of two sick boys by 
sprinkling them with the water in which Jesus had been 
washed. 

In the same city two wives of one man each had a son 
ill with fever. One of the women swapped a beautiful 



THE INFANCY. 243 

mantle with Mary for a small bandage, which she put on 
her son and he got well. The other boy died. This caused 
a feud between the two wives. The one who had lost her 
boy watched her chance and threw the other one's boy 
into a hot oven. But it did not bake him at all. Again 
she threw him into a well. But he didn't sink, and was 
rescued by some men passing by. Then the boy's mother 
went and complained to lady Mary, who promised that 
God would avenge her. Sure enough her rival got killed 
by falling into the well herself. 

Another woman had lost one of her twin sons, and the 
other was at the point of death. She entreated Mary to 
save the child. Mary told her to put him in bed with 
Christ. She did so, and although the child's eyes were 
already closed in death, tlie smell of the clothes of Jesus 
revived him, and he lived. That boy became the Apostle 
Bartholomew. 

A leprous woman who was healed by the water in 
which Jesus washed, going to another city found a bride 
of one of the chief men whose marriage had been dissolved 
on detecting the mark of leprosy between her eyes. 
Being told of the cure performed by the dirty water, the 
bride went to see Mary and presented to her splendid 
gifts, in return for which she was healed at once. Then 
she was remarried to her husband. 

A young woman was afflicted by Satan in the form of 
a huge dragon which sucked her blood and threatened to 
swallow her. The woman last healed told the mother to 
take her daughter to Mary at Bethlehem. She did so, 
and received the baptism of dirty water, and as a fiu-ther 
remedy carried away a swaddling cloth. Returning home, 
the dragon reappeared, and the girl was afraid. But her 
mother said, " Let him come near thee and then show 
him the cloth." The girl placed the cloth on her head, 



244 



THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 



when "flames and live coals began to dart forth from it 
and to be cast upon the dragon," which fled away in 
great fear. 

Another woman had a son named Judas, who was a 
demoniac. She took him to Mary. James and Joses 
had taken Jesus out to play. Judas went and sat down 
by Jesus, and one of his fits coming on he tried to bite 
the Son of God, but was not able. Nevertheless he 
struck him and made him cry. Immediately Satan went 
forth out of that boy in the shape of a mad dog. Now 
this Judas was the Apostle who afterwards betrayed his 
Master, and the same side on which he struck Jesus the 
Jews (not the Roman soldier) transfixed with a lance. 

The remainder of this Gospel coincides very nearly for 
the most part with that of Thomas. Jesus had completed 
his seventh (not fifth) year when he made the clay birds 
fly — and not only fly, but eat and drink out of his hand. 
And he not only made birds out of clay, but little asses 
and oxen, which walked at his bidding. The parents of 
the other boys, on being told of this, advised them not to 
keep company with Jesus, for he was a wizard. 

Going into a dyer's shop, he took up all the pieces of 
cloth and threw them into a tub of indigo. The dyer 
was enraged. But Jesus took out the pieces one by one 
and gave to each the color the dyer wanted. 

Old Joseph was an unskilful carpenter, but that made 
no difference so long as his little boy was always at hand 
to correct his blunders when he made a door, a chest, or 
a bed too long or too short, too wide or too narrow. 
The King of Jerusalem ordered Joseph to make him a 
throne. This must have been Archelaus, who was eth- 
narch from b. c. 4 till a. d. 7, after which Judea was re- 
duced to a Roman province and governed by a procurator. 
This was a big job, and Joseph was two years at it. By 



THE INFANCY. 245 

that time Archelaus must have come nearly if not quite 
to the end of his reign. Joseph, as usual, made a bad 
job ; the throne would not fit in its place by two spans 
on each side. And yet the work had all been done in the 
palace. Perhaps the old man's eyes were too dim to see 
the marks on his square. Spectacles had not yet been 
invented. The King was angry, and Joseph felt so bad 
he went to bed without his supper. Strange that he 
should have forgotten that his little step-son who had so 
often corrected these bad jobs could make this all right 
too ! But the little fellow himself seems to have been 
backward in coming forward in this case. He let the 
old man suffer agony all night, and in the morning came 
and asked him what was the matter. Just as if he didn't 
know! Joseph said he had spoiled two years' work. 
Jesus told him to cheer up — he would fix things. So the 
old man and the boy took hold of the throne, one at each 
end, and stretched it out to the exact measure. 

Going along the road one day Jesus saw some boys 
playing, but they hid themselves from him — following 
perhaps the advice of their parents to avoid the little 
wizard. Calling upon some women at the door of a 
house, he asked if the boys were about there. They said 
no. "Who are these," said he, "that you see in the 
archway f "They are kids," said they. "Come out O 
kids to your Shepherd," said Jesus. Then the boys in 
the form of kids came out and danced around Jesus. 
The women repented of their deception, and prayed for 
the restoration of the boys. Jesus said, " Come, boys, 
let's go and play," and immediately the kids became 
boys. 

In the month of Adar, (March,) Jesus, after the manner 
of a King, assembled his playmates together. They 
spread their clothes on the ground and he sat down 



246 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

■upon them. Then they put a crown of flowers on his 
head and paid him royal honors. 

Some men came along carrying a dying boy who had 
been bitten by a serpent while thrusting his hand into a 
partridge's nest for eggs. The boys called out to the 
party, " Come and salute your King." But the men had 
something else to attend to. Then the boys dragged 
them by force up to their little King. Jesus asked tlie 
men why they carried the boy. They said a serpent had 
bitten him. " Let's go and kill that serpent," said Jesus. 
The boy's parents (it seems the mother was there too) 
asked leave to go on home, as their son was in the agony 
of death. But the boys compelled them to obey the order 
of their King. All hands, including the dying boy, went 
back to the partridge's nest, where, at the command of 
Jesus, the serpent came out, crawled on the bitten boy, 
and sucked the poison out. Then Jesus cursed the ani- 
mal and it burst asunder. The boy was healed, and Jesus 
promised to make him a disciple, which was fulfilled in 
the selection of Simon the Canaanite as an Apostle. 

Jesus also healed the wound on his brother James's 
hand, who was bitten by a viper as he was gathering 
wood. But it is not stated whether this serpent bursted. 

The stories of bringing to life the boy who got pushed 
off a roof, of fetching water in the cloak, of making twelve 
clay sparrows fly, of causing the death of the boy who de- 
stroyed Jesus's fish-pond, of the drying up of the boy who 
ran against him, and of the experience of Jesus with the 
two schoolmasters, are told with some variations from the 
other Gospels. 

Next comes the story of the attendance of the feast at 
Jerusalem, when Jesus was 12 years old. Jesus asked the 
Doctors, " Whose son is the Messias ? " (Not Christos, as 
in Matt, xxii, 42.) They answered, " The son of David." 



THE INFANCY. 247 

"Wherefore, then," said Jesus, "does he in the Spirit 
call him his Lord when he says, ' The Lord said to my 
Lord, Sit thou at my right hand that I may put thine 
enemies under thy footsteps ? ' " 

Being asked by a philosopher present if he had studied 
astronomy, Jesus " explained the number of the spheres 
and of the heavenly bodies, their natures and operations; 
their opposition ; their aspect, triangular, square, and sex- 
tile ; their course, direct and retrograde ; the twenty- 
fourths, and sixtieths of twenty-fourths ; and other things 
beyond the reach of reason." 

Being asked by another if he had studied medicine, he 
"explained to him physics and metaphysics, hyperphysics 
and hypophysics, the powers likewise and humors of the 
body, .... the operation of the soul upon the body, .... 
their conjunction and disjunction, and other things be- 
yond the reach of any created intellect." 

It was while Jesus was thus discoursing to the savants 
in the temple that his parents came and found him, after 
three days' search in a city of not more than 15,000 in- 
habitants. They returned with him, it is said, to Naza- 
reth. An angel had told them to go there some eight 
years before, but so far as this Gospel tells us they did 
not go till now. What he did at Nazareth we are briefly 
informed as follows : 

"And from this day he began to hide his miracles and mysteries 
and secrets, and to give attention to the law, until he completed his 
thirtieth year, when his Father publicly declared him at the Jordan 
by this voice sent down from Heaven : ' This is my beloved Son in 
whom I am well pleased ;' the Holy Spirit being present in the form 
of a white dove." 

The Gospel ends by a benediction, followed by this at- 
testation : 

" Here endeth the whole Gospel of the Infancy, with the aid of 
God Most High, according to what we have found in the original." 



248 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

The whole story has now been told of the birth and 
boyhood of the Son of God. Is it any more credible than 
other ancient mythological tales ? Does it contain a grain 
of evidence in favor of even the existence, much less the 
divine origin or holy character, of the child Christ Jesus I 

Gospel of Nicodemus, or Acts of Pilate. 
Part 1. 

The seven remaining Gospels all relate to events at the 
close of the life of Jesus. The principal one, which is lon- 
ger than all the rest together, is entitled, " The Acts of 
Pilate," but in the 13th century it was named " The Gos- 
pel of Nicodemus." It is in two parts ; the first relating 
to things done in the time of Pilate, and the second to 
the descent of Christ into Hell. Of the first part there 
are two versions in Greek and one in Latin ; of the sec- 
ond part, one version in Greek and two in Latin. 

Justin, about a. d. 150, mentions a book called the Acts 
of Pilate, and Eusebius speaks of such a book existing 
in his time, but it is not certain that this is the same. 
Tischendorf assigns the composition to the 2d century, 
and believes that Justin did refer to this work ; but most 
critics give it a much later date, some even as late as the 
beginning of the 5th century. 

The first Greek version says that Ananias found the 
memorials written in Hebrew by Nicodemus, and trans- 
lated them into Greek in the 17th year of Flavins Theo- 
dosius and the 6th of Flavins Valentinus, (a. d. 384.) 

The second Greek version says that a Jew named 
Eneas wrote the book at the request of Nicodemus, and 
that Nicodemus himself translated the Hebrew into the 
Romaic language. 

The Latin version says that Nicodemus wrote the work 
in Hebrew, and that Eneas found it and translated it into 



GOSPEL OF NTCODEMUS, OR ACTS OF PILATE. 249 

the language of the Gentiles in the 17th year of Theodo- 
sius. 

In other words — 1. Nicoderaus wrote it in Hebrew 
about A. D. 30. 2. Eneas wrote it at the request of Mco- 
demus. 3. Nicodemus translated Eneas's Hebrew into 
the Roman language. 4. Ananias translated Nicodemus's 
Hebrew into Greek a. n. 384. 5. Eneas translated Nico- 
demus's Hebrew into the language of the Gentiles a. d. 
384. 

The date of the events recorded — the trial and cruci- 
fixion of Christ — is given, to wit : The 15th year of 
Tiberius, (a. d. 29,) the 19th year of Herod, King of Gali- 
lee, (a. d. 15,) and the 4th year of the 202d Olympiad, 
(a. d. 32.) Other readings are the 18th and the 19th of 
Tiberius. The second Greek version has the 18th, at 
which time (a. d. 32) it says Tiberius appointed Herod 
King of Judea, and made Pilate procurator in Jerusalem. 
Pilate was appointed a. d. 25 or 26 and no Herod was 
ever assigned to Judea by Tiberius, but Herod Agrippa 
was made governor of Judea by Claudius, a. d. 41. 

The trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ are 
narrated at great length in this Gospel, as if enlarged 
from the four canonical ones. A council of high priests 
and scribes come before Pilate and accuse Jesus of curing 
on the Sabbath, of being a magician, and of calling him- 
self a king and a Son of God. Pilate sends an officer for 
the accused. The officer finding Jesus throws down his 
cloak and urges him to walk upon it. This enrages the 
Jews. Pilate asks the officer why he did it. The man 
pleaded that he had seen Jesus entering the city upon an 
ass which walked over garments spread out before him 
by the people, who shouted " Hosanna in the highest." 
He had therefore only done what he had seen the Jews 



250 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

themselves doing. Pilate was satisfied, and the accusers 
were silent. 

As Jesus entered the Court the standards bowed down 
and adored him. The Jews accused the standard-bearers 
of doing it. Pilate to test the phenomenon made the 
Jews choose twelve strong men to hold the standards, 
and made Jesus go out and come in again. The standards 
bowed as before, and all the answer the Jews could make 
was, "He is a magician." 

But now they brought three more charges against 
Jesus, to wit: 1. He was illegitimate. 2. On his account 
the infants were murdered. 3. His father and mother fled 
into Egypt because they had no confidence in the people. 
A demurrer would have been a sufficient plea to such a 
complaint, but a dozen friendly, pious Jews denied the 
first specification upon their own knowledge, saying that 
they were present at the betrothal of his mother. 

The accusers, however, insisted that Jesus anyhow was 
a magician and a blasphemer. Pilate having consulted 
the twelve pious Jews who stood up for Jesus, said to the 
outside crowd, " I take the sun to witness that I find no 
fault in this man." This did not satisfy them. " Try him 
then yourselves," said Pilate. They replied, " Our law 
doesn't allow us to put a man to death." " Why, then, 
should I do it ? " said Pilate. Then he returned to the 
Court and asked Jesus if he claimed to be king of the 
Jews, and Jesus confessed that he did. Nevertheless, 
Pilate stuck to his verdict of not guilty. 

Then, as a further specification, the Jews charged Jesus 
with saying that he could destroy and rebuild in three 
days the temple which Solomon took forty-six years to 
build. Whew ! what a whopper ! Solomon's temple had 
been destroyed 600 years. He only took seven years to 
build it, and a modern contractor would have done it in 



GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS, OR AOTS OF PILATE. 251 

seven months, for it was not bigger than an average me- 
tropolitan church. The present temple was the third, 
and was built by Herod. The new accusation did not 
change Pilate's opinion, but the Jews insisted that Jesus 
deserved death for dishonoring God. 

Pilate in his perplexity asked Jesus what he should do 
to him. " Do to me as is determined," said Jesus. 
" How is it determined ?" inquired Pilate. Jesus answered, 
" Moses and the prophets wrote about me being crucified 
and rising again." " Do you seek to hear a greater insult 
against God ? " said the Jews. Pilate answered, " These 
words are not an insult against God, since they are 
written in the books of the prophets." (Query, Where ?) 

A messenger now came from Pilate's wife saying that 
she had had fearful dreams on account of Jesus, and 
begging him not to hurt that good man. Pilate said to 
the Jews, "If you hold as an insult against God the 
words which you declare Jesus to have spoken, take and 
judge him according to your law." 

At this point Nicodemus asked leave to be heard. 
"Say on," said Pilate. Nicodemus testified that Jesus 
had performed " miracles such as man had never yet 
done nor will do. Let him go, therefore," said he, "and 
if what he does be from God it will stand, but if from 
man it will be destroyed." 

Another Jew came forward and said that he had lain 
sick thirty-eight years until Jesus made him rise up and 
walk. Another who had been born blind said that Jesus 
had restored his sight. Another who was crooked had 
been straightened, and another who was a leper had been 
healed. A woman named Veronica cried out from a dis- 
tance, saying that Jesus had healed her of a hemorrhage 
of twelve years' standing. Others testified that demons 



252 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

were subject to Jesus, and that he had raised Lazarus 
from the tomb after he had been dead four days. 

It would be unprofitable to pursue the details of this 
absurd story, manifestly enlarged out of the brief sketches 
given in the four Gospels, especially the latest one, and 
of no historical value whatever. We will therefore notice 
only some of the more remarkable points. 

While the first Greek and the Latin version say nothing 
as to whether the crucifixion took place on the Passover, 
the second Greek version distinctly fixes it on the day 
before, and one of the manuscripts of the first Greek has 
an evident interpolation fixing the event on the Passover 
day. But in all the accounts it is made to occur on Fri- 
day, because from time immemorial that is hangman's 
day. 

Pilate was alarmed at the supernatural darkness, and 
sent for the Jews to know what they thought about it. 
They said it was only an eclipse of the sun. An eclipse 
of the sun at full moon would be a most astounding 
miracle ! 

The rest of the legend is of a most marvellous charac- 
ter. Joseph of Arimathea having obtained the body of 
Jesus and put it in his tomb, is arrested by the Jews and 
locked in a prison cell without a window. The door is 
sealed and guarded ; but when it is opened on Sunday 
morning the cell is found empty. Jesus also has escaped 
from the tomb guarded in like manner. While the Jews 
are in great commotion about these disappearances, three 
men, a priest, a teacher, and a Levite, come and report to 
the Sanhedrim that they met Jesus and his disciples in a 
mountain in Galilee, and saw him ascend to Heaven. The 
Jews would not believe it. But Nicodemus being more 
credulous, persuaded them to send men in search of 
Jesus. They did not find him, but they did find Joseph 



GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS, OR ACTS OF PILATE. 253 

of Arimathea. So they sent a committee of seven with a 
letter of apology to Joseph, asking him to come to Jeru- 
salem and explain matters. Joseph came, and they in- 
vited him to a feast. He accepted the invitation, and 
while seated at the table between Annas and Caiaphas, 
at the request of Nicodemus he told the story of his 
escape from prison thus : 

While praying in his cell at midnight the room was 
raised up by the four corners, a great light shone on him, 
and he fell to the ground. Some one took him up bodily 
and epoke kindly to him. He thought it was the ghost 
of Elias, and began to pray and repeat the command- 
ments. But the supposed ghost was Jesus, who after 
convincing Joseph of his identity carried him away to 
the vacant tomb, and thence to Joseph's own house, where 
he told him to remain forty days while Jesus went to meet 
his disciples in Galilee. 

The story of the three men from Galilee being thus in 
part confirmed, the Sanhedrim sent for them and ques- 
tioned them further and apart. The result was that the 
chief priests were convinced of the fact of the resurrec- 
tion of Christ and his ascension from a mountain in Gal- 
ilee. Luke, therefore, was mistaken about its being Mount 
Olivet. 

Part 2. 

Part two relating to the Descent of Christ into Hell is 
the climax of absurdity. Joseph, to show that Jesus had 
raised others from the dead, invited some of the chief 
priests to go with him and see for themselves. They 
went to Arimathea, (supposed to mean Ramah, the re- 
puted birth-place of Samuel, about four miles northwest 
of Jerusalem,) and not only saw the empty tombs of old 
Simeon and his two sons, but found the risen men and 



254 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

brought them back to Jerusalem, where, at the request of 
the priests, the three men wrote an account of their expe- 
rience in Hades, in substance as follows : 

At midnight a light equal to the sun shone into those 
dark regions. The patriarchs and prophets were filled 
with joy, saying that this light was from the Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. John the Baptist narrated what he 
knew about Jesus. Seth, at the request of his father 
Adam, told a story of what occurred at the death of 
his father, thus : Adam wanted to escape death ; so he 
sent Seth to the gate of Paradise to entreat God to send 
an angel to point out a certain tree which yielded oil 
wherewith the son might anoint his father and save his 
life. An angel came and told Seth the tree was no longer 
to be found, but after 5500 years from the creation the 
Son of God would come into the world, when he would 
anoint Adam and others with this same oil and raise 
them up from the dead. At this good news the patriarchs 
and prophets rejoiced. 

Then came Satan and talked with Hades. Satan wanted 
to secure Jesus, who, by the co-operation of himself and 
the Jews, had been crucified. Jesus had called himself 
the Son of God, had healed many, had restored the dead 
to life, and done many other evils to Satan and his ser- 
vants. Hades suggested that if Jesus was so powerful 
it might be hazardous to have anything to do with him. 
Satan said he wasn't afraid, and Hades ought not to be 
afraid either, of their common enemy. But Hades could 
not be persuaded to take a hand in the undertaking, giv- 
ing as a reason some late experience he had had with Laz- 
arus, who, after coming down there, had been taken back 
by force, flying away like an eagle. "So don't briug 
Jesus here," said Hades, " lest he raise all the dead, and 



GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS, OR ACTS OF PILATE. 255 

not one will be left to me." In other words, Hades was 
afraid Jesus would raise Hell. 

While thus wrangling, a voice like thunder announced 
the coming of the King of Glory. Hades directed his 
demons to secure strongly the gates of brass and bars of 
iron, and stand guard while Satan went forth to repel the 
coming King. The patriarchs clamored for him to be let 
in, and there came a voice saying, " Lift up ye gates." 
" Who is this King of Glory *? " inquired Hades. " The 
Lord, strong and mighty," cried the angels; "the Lord, 
mighty in battle." At these words the gates were shat- 
tered, the bars were broken, and in came the King of 
Glory in the form of a man, lighting up the dark places, 
and liberating all the dead. 

Hades gave up all for lost. The King seized and bound 
Satan hand and foot, and delivered him over to Hades to 
keep till the second appearing. Hades received the pris- 
oner as Beelzebub, the arch-devil, the root of all evil, who 
had caused the King of Glory to be crucified, with the 
further sinister purpose of depriving Hades of his power. 

The Savior then brought Adam and the rest of the 
old saints out of Hades, blessing them, and making the 
sign of the cross on their foreheads. Taking Adam by 
the hand, he led him and all the rest into Paradise. At 
the heavenly door they met two old men, Enoch and Elias, 
•who were to live till the end of the world, and then be 
slain by Antichrist. Then came along a lowly man, bear- 
ing a cross. The holy fathers inquired, " Who art thou f 
He answered that he was a thief who had been crucified 
along with Jesus. He said he had just met the archangel 
Michael, who told him to stand aside till the forefathers 
of the race came in. Then the saints welcomed the re- 
pentant robber, and all went into Paradise together — 



256 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

Where with long rest they shall be blest, 

And naught shall them annoy, 
Where they shall see as seen they be, 

And whom they love enjoy ; 
Made kings and priests to God through Christ's 

Dear love's transcendency, 
There to remain and there to reign 

With him eternally. 

Having written these things, (not including the above 
stanza,) the three men pronounced a benediction, left their 
manuscript, and vanished. 

There is an addition to the legend in the first Latin 
version which is worthy of notice. After saying that Pi- 
late wrote out these things as reported by Joseph and 
Nicodemus, and deposited the writings in the public 
archives, it adds that he assembled the chief priests and 
learned men in the temple, and asked them if they had 
not discovered from their sacred books that they had in 
ignorance crucified the Son of God. Upon this appeal, 
Annas and Caiaphas, having requested all the rest of their 
brethren to leave, confessed to Pilate that they had found 
in their Septuagint that " the archangel Michael spoke to 
the third son of Adam (^^ 6., Enoch) of 5500 years in 
which the Christ, the most beloved Son of God, was to 
come from the heavens " — that in the instruction to Moses 
(Ex. XXV, 10) to make the ark of the covenant two and a 
half cubits long, one and a half broad, and one and a half 
high, (total measurements, five and a half,) they under- 
stood that Christ was to come in 5500 years ; and that 
the era had been completed appeared by the following 
biblical chronology : 

From the Creation to the Deluge 2262 

" ** Deluge to Abraham 1207 

" '* Abraham to Exodus 470 

" *' Exodus to Temple 511 

" ♦' Temple to Destruction 464 

" " Destruction to Christ 586 

Total 5500 



Pilate's letter to tibeeius cesar. 257 

This is approximately correct according to the Septua- 
gint. The exact period no fellow can find out. Smith's 
Bible Dictionary figures up about 5361 or 5421. Some 
of the other attempts are as follows : Hales, 5411 ; Jack- 
son, 5426 ; Usher, 4004 ; Petavius, 3983 ; Bunsen, about 
20,000. But since modern science has demonstrated that 
the world never was created, and Antichrist has not fallen 
far short of proving that Jesus Christ never was born, 
what is the use of trying to calculate the interval between 
two events that never occurred ? 

The Latin appendix ends with a statement that the two 
high priests having made known this discovery of the 
revelation hidden in the figures of Exodus, Pilate recorded 
the same and placed it in the public archives of his pre- 
torium. Then he wrote a letter to Claudius Cesar, telling 
him about the ministry and death of the Son of God. 
But the forger of this part of the document was ignorant 
of the fact that Pilate was recalled by Tiberius and super- 
seded by another procurator, so that when Claudius be- 
came Emperor (a. d. 41) there was no Pilate in Judea. 

Pilate's Letter to Tiberius Cesar. 

This is a very short letter in which Pilate refers to a 
former one. What a pity the other one is lost ! Pilate 
praises Jesus Christ as the most pious and strict man 
that ever lived or will live. He says that not only the 
Hebrew prophets but the Sibyls warned the Jews against 
crucifying this ambassador of truth, and that he (Pilate) 
resisted the execution all he could, but was compelled to 
yield to the importunity of the Jews, who would yet 
suffer, as the Scriptures foretell, the penalty of their ma- 
lignity. 



258 the apocryphal gospels. 

The Report op Pilate. 

This report is made to the Emperor Augustus Cesar. 
The second Greek version has Tiberius in the title, but 
augustus (translated " august ") in the opening sentence, 
like the first version. The reference, therefore, to Augus- 
tus, who died a. d. 14, can hardly be a mere clerical 
error. 

With fear and trembling Pilate tells about Jesus being 
delivered up to him by Herod, Archelaus, Philip, Annas, 
Caiaphas, and others. (Archelaus v^as successor to Herod, 
and his reign ended a. d. 7.) They complained that 
Jesus cured on the Sabbath, and opposed its observance 
as a day of leisure. Several miracles are mentioned, 
among the rest the raising of Lazarus, whose body, 
though it " had the stink of a dog," yet came out of the 
tomb filled with great fragrance. The woman who got 
cured of an . issue of blood was so glad that she " ran 
swiftly" home to Kepharnium, accomplishing the jour- 
ney in six days. Wonderful feat ! Ten to fifteen miles 
a day ! 

Pilate confesses that the works done by Jesus "are 
greater than can be done by the gods whom we worship," 
and yet says that he " ordered him to be crucified, having 
first scourged him, and having found against him no 
cause of evil accusations or deeds." What a lovely mag- 
istrate ! 

He then describes the phenomena attending the event. 
There was darkness over all the world at mid-day. The 
moon was turned to blood, and failed in her light. (In a 
solar eclipse the moon would be blacker than blood.) The 
Jews said they saw Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the twelve 
patriarchs, and Moses and Job, who " had died, as they 
say, 3500 years before." At the 3d hour of the night 
the sun was seen brighter than ever before, and it shone 



THE GIVING UP OF PILATE. 259 

all night. An innumerable multitude appeared in glon- 
ous robes, crying, "Jesus that was crucified is risen; 
come up out of Hades, ye that have been enslaved in the 
underground regions." The earth opened, and most of 
the Jews who were against Jesus were swallowed up. 
Only one synagogue was left in Jerusalem. 

The Giving Up of Pilate. 

The foregoing report of Pilate having come to Eome 
and been read by Cesar, (Augustus? or Tiberius'?) he 
was filled with rage, and ordered his soldiers to go and 
bring Pilate a prisoner to Kome. The order being exe- 
cuted, Pilate was arraigned before the Senate, and the 
Emperor asked him why he had condemned Jesus, know- 
ing what great miracles he had performed ? Pilate threw 
the blame entirely on the Jews. Being asked to name 
them, he mentioned Herod, Archelaus, Philip, Annas, 
and Caiaphas. (Herod died b. c. 4; Archelaus was exiled 
A. D. 7; Philip — supposed to mean Herod, tetrarch of 
Galilee — had little or nothing to do with the condemna- 
tion according to the Gospels ; Annas (Ananus) was high 
priest from a. d. 12 to 21, and Caiaphas from 23 to 36. — 
McClint. & Strong's Cyc.) 

Cesar was not pacified by Pilate's apology, and declared 
that " Jesus was manifestly the Christ, the King of the 
Jews." No sooner had he thus spoken, than "all the 
multitude of the gods fell down in a body and became as 
dust where Cesar was sitting with the Senate." Appalled 
at the sight, the people dispersed each one to his own 
house. 

The next day Pilate was brought again before the Sen- 
ate and re-examined. He admitted that Jesus was greater 
than all the Roman gods, but said the Jews forced 
him to crucify him. Then Cesar, upon consultation with 



260 THE APOCKYPHAL GOSPELS. 

the Senate, issued a decree directed to Licianus, gov- 
ernor of the chief places of the East, ordering him to 
drive out the Jews from Judea and make them slaves 
among the nations ; which decree was duly executed. 

As for Pilate, he was condemned to death, but allowed 
time to pray befokre execution. He besought the Lord to 
pardon himself, and especially his wife Procla, who he 
said had prophesied about the nailing to the cross. After 
prayer a voice from heaven answered, saying : 

"All the generations and families of the nations shall count thee 
blessed, because under thee have been fulfilled all those things said 
about me by the prophets ; and thou thyself shalt be seen as my 
witness at my second appearing, when I shall judge the twelve 
tribes of Israel and those that have not owned my name. " 

The prefect then struck off Pilate's head, and an angel 
of the Lord received it. At the sight of the angel coming 
for her husband's head, Mrs. Pilate was so filled with joy 
that she also died, and the two saints were buried in one 
grave. 

The fact that before Pilate reached Rome Tiberius was 
dead, is of no weight in such a story as this, and accept- 
ing the truth of it, Pontius Pilate stands forth as the first 
Christian martyr. 

Death of Pilate. 

This legend is at variance with the previous one. Tibe- 
rius Cesar being very ill, and hearing of Jesus who cured 
by a word, sent a messenger across the seas to tell Pilate 
to send Jesus to him. "When the man got there Pilate 
was sorry to inform him that Jesus had been crucified. 

The man, however, happened to meet a woman named 
Yeronica who had a portrait of Jesus which she obtained 
in a miraculous manner. While on her way to a portrait- 
painter with' a canvas on which she wanted a likeness of 
Jesus painted Jesus himself met her and asked her where 



DEATH OF PILATE. 261 

she was going. She told him her purpose. He asked to 
take the cloth, and having taken it, handed it back to her 
with a true likeness {per on eika) of himself impressed upon 
it. (That was doubtless the first photograph ever taken.) 
By gazing at that picture the Emperor would be cured. 
The messenger wanted to buy it. Signora Veronica 
wouldn't part with it for anything, but she was willing 
to go with it herself to Cesar. So the messenger took 
her to Rome, and the sight of the picture restored the 
Emperor to health. 

Then Cesar, full of rage at Pontius Pilate, summoned 
him to Rome. Pilate appeared wearing the seamless 
tunic of Jesus. As soon as the Emperor saw him in that 
magical garb his rage was assuaged. But no sooner was 
Pilate away from his presence than the Emperor blazed 
out against him and had him recalled. The moment he 
appeared again Cesar's fury was gone. " Then by a divine 
impulse, or perhaps by the advice of some Christian,* he 
caused him to be stripped of that tunic, and immediately 
resumed against him his former ferocity of mind." The 
upshot was that Pilate was condemned to death. But he 
anticipated the execution by killing himself with his own 
knife. So he was not after all a Christian martyr any more 
than Judas. 

Pilate's body was sunk in the Tiber, but there it stirred 
up such a tempest that it was taken out and sunk in the 
Rhone at Vienna — so named from Via Gehermce, " way 
of hell." But there again it caused the same disturbance, 
and was taken and removed to Losania, (Lausanne, in 
Switzerland.) But the people there took it away and 
sunk it " in a certain pit surrounded by mountains, where 

* First and only occurrence of the word Christian in the Gospels. 



262 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

to this day, according to the account of some, certain dia- 
bolical machinations are said to bubble up." 

There is another tradition that Pilate was banished to 
Gaul and ended his sorrows by drowning himself in Lake 
Lucerne ; but as there is a monument at Vienna, upon the 
Ehone, called Pilate's tomb, 52 feet high, we confess our- 
self at a loss what to believe as to Pilate's latter end, or 
whether he should be worshipped as a saint or damned 
as a sinner. 

Narrative or Joseph. 

This narrative purports to be written by Joseph of 
Arimathea, represented in the canonical Gospels as a rich 
and honorable counsellor, who, while he did not consent 
to the condemnation of Jesus, lacked the courage to pro- 
test, and not till after the crucifixion became a decided 
Christian. If the present narrative is authentic or cred- 
ible, Jesus was tried and condemned for burglary. 

A Galilean inn-keeper named Demas had robbed a mul- 
titude of Jews, and had stolen the law and the " myste- 
rious deposit " placed in the temple of Solomon. For 
these crimes he was arrested, together with another rob- 
ber named Gestas. Demas had one redeeming virtue : 
he was good to the poor ; but Gestas was an awful 
wretch who had tortured and murdered women and 
drank the blood of infants. 

For two years Judas Iscariot, a nephew of the high 
priest Caiaphas, had been employed as a detective to 
follow up Jesus, for which service he received half a 
shekel of gold ($4.40) each day. Judas seems to have 
made poor progress until the arrest of Demas, when an 
idea occurred to him of accusing Jesus of the Temple 
robbery. Accordingly he hinted his suspicion to the 
council. Nicodemus, who kept the keys of the sanctu- 
ary, scouted the idea, but Caiaphas's daughter, who was 



NAERATIVE OF JOSEPH. 263 

a priestess of the Temple, was ready to suspect Jesus, 
because he had said, " I am able to destroy this Temple 
and in three days to raise it." The council gave weight 
to the suspicion of the high priest's daughter, for they 
regarded her as a prophetess. 

So the next day Jesus was brought into the hall of Cai- 
aphas for examination. Annas and Caiaphas asked him, 
" Tell us, why hast thou stolen our law and renounced 
(or hidden) the ordinances of Moses and the prophets ! " 
Jesus made no answer. Again they said to him, " The 
sanctuary which Solomon built in forty and six years, why 
dost thou wish to destroy it "? " Again he answered not. 
The inquisitors were troubled. The law was missing, 
without which they did not know how to keep the Pass- 
over just at hand, and the people were accusing Caia- 
phas's daughter of the robbery, and threatening to burn 
her. She, however, adroitly quieted them by saying, 
" Wait, my children, and let us destroy this Jesus, and 
the law will be found and the holy feast will be fully ac- 
complished." Then secretly Annas and Caiaphas bribed 
Judas to testify against Jesus in order to save Miss Caia- 
phas. To further the scheme Judas got them to release 
Jesus temporarily. 

Early the next morning Judas said to the crowd, " What 
will you give me, and I will give up to you the overthrower 
(or taker-away) of the law and the plunderer of the proph- 
ets ? " They answered, " We will give thee thirty pieces 
of goldy Judas was careful not to name Jesus, because 
many of the people confessed that he was the Son of God; 
but he accepted the offer, and received pay in advance. 
Procuring a guard of soldiers, he went in the evening 
and made them arrest the man he kissed and hailed as 
"Rabbi." Bringing him before Caiaphas, Judas said, 
" This is he who stole the law and the prophets." No 



264 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

further testimony was given. The only question put to 
the accused was, " Why hast thou done these things?" 
and, as at the inquisition the day before, Jesus answered 
nothing. 

At dawn they gave him up to Pilate that he might cru- 
cify him. No particulars of the trial before the procu- 
rator are given. Pilate ordered him to be nailed to the 
cross along with the two robbers, Demas and Gestas. 
The latter died blaspheming Jesus and taunting him 
with pretending to be the Son of God, and yet unable 
to help himself. But Demas was penitent, and addressed 
an eloquent prayer to Christ for salvation. His prayer 
was answered by a promise of immediate admission to 
Paradise, accompanied by a written letter of introduction 
to the gatekeepers there, and a verbal message to the cher- 
ubim and other officials concerning the proper guarding 
of the premises until the second coming of the Son of 
God. 

The dead body of Gestas appeared as that of a dragon, 
while the body of Demas vanished. Joseph having ob- 
tained the body of Jesus, placed it in his new tomb. 
When the Jews learned this, though it was Sabbath even- 
ing, (^. e., Friday night,) they seized Joseph and put him 
in prison. But the next night at the 5th hour (Saturday, 
11 p. M.) a great light shone in the prison and two men 
appeared ; the house was lifted up and Joseph came out. 
Then he recognized Jesus and the robber, the latter bring- 
ing a letter to Jesus straight from Paradise. Presently 
Jesus sat down and read the letter. Talk about the won- 
ders of the modern telegraph ! This beats it all hollow. 
Jesus, on the cross, with his hands nailed fast, writes a 
letter of one hundred words and hands it to his brother 
Demas, who takes it 'way off to Paradise and brings back 
an answer of two hundred words the next day. 



THE AVENGING OF THE SAVIOR. 265 

Joseph followed Jesus and the robber into Galilee, 
where he saw Christ transfigured and ministered to by 
angels. After remaining there three days, the disciple 
John met the party. John not being able to recognize 
Demas, besought Jesus to reveal the strange man to him, 
which he did to John's astonishment and delight. Just 
then a multitude of voices were heard welcoming the rob- 
ber to Paradise as a great king bearing the cross, where- 
upon both he and Joseph vanished, and the latter found 
himself in his own house. 

The Avenging of the Savioe. 

This last of the Apocryphal Gospels is made up of two 

legends clumsily joined, and with the craziest kind of 

chronology, to make which more apparent we will first 

insert a brief time-table : 

Tiberius reigned till a. d. 37 

Archelaus, ethnarch, gov.erned till " 7 

Vespasian was born " 9 

Titus, his son, was born " 40 

Vespasian reigned from a. d. 67 to 79 

Titus reigned from " 79 to 81 

Jerusalem was destroyed a. d. 70 

The story is as follows : Titus, a prince of the city of 
Burgidalla, in Libia, in the reign of Tiberius, had a cancer 
in his nose. One day he saw a vessel coming into port 
from Judea, a thing never before known. It was com- 
manded by Nathan, an Ishmaelite, a subject of Pontius 
Pilate. Captain Nathan was charged with a treaty to 
Tiberius, but had been driven by adverse winds to the 
shores of Africa. Titus asked him if he could cure a 
cancer. Nathan said he didn't think he could, but told 
him about a man named Emanuel, lately in Jerusalem, 
who had performed all sorts of cures and miracles, but 
after dying on the cross and coming to life again he had 
gone up to heaven. Titus was deeply impressed with the 



266 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

Captain's story, and said if he had been there at the time 
of the crucifixion he would have slain the Jews who did 
it and hung their carcasses on the tree. No sooner had 
he thus spoken than his cancer was cured, and in the 
same hour all the sick people in the city were made whole. 

Grateful for the miraculous cure, Titus resolved to go 
and punish the Jews. After being baptized by Captain 
Nathan, he sent messengers to Vespasian (his father) to 
come in haste with 5,000 men. Vespasian came with the 
soldiers, and asked Titus what he wanted done. Titus 
said he wanted to destroy the Jews who had crucified 
Jesus on ^^ Mount Calvary.'" (^.) The army embarked, 
and having arrived at Judea began to lay waste the 
"kingdom of the Jews." The pusillanimous Archelaus 
in great alarm gave up his sceptre to his son, telling him 
to take counsel with '' the other kings " how to escape 
from their enemies, and then committed suicide. The son 
aUied himself with the other kings- and defended Jeru- 
salem against Titus and Vespasian seven (!) years. . 

By that time the famine was so great that the people 
began to eat earth, and the soldiers of "the four kings," 
rather than die at the hands of the Romans, killed each 
other to the number of 12,000. The stench of their 
corpses was so great that something had to be done. So 
the four kings, after confessing to each other their crime 
in delivering up Christ to death, (some 40 years before,) 
made an unconditional surrender, saying to Titus and 
Vespasian, " Take the keys of the city which have been 
given to you by Messiah who is called Christ.'' 

The captives suffered either cruel death or slavery — 
the slaves being sold thirty for a denarius — half a cent 
apiece ! Pilate (whose proconsulship ended 34 years 
before) was put in prison, and messengers were sent to 



THE AVENGING OF THE SAVIOK. 267 

Tiberius (who had been dead 33 years) to send Velosianus 
to them. 

Tiberius did as his royal successors directed, and in 
sending Velosianus requested him to find a disciple of 
Christ who could cure leprosy. The Emperor was suffer- 
ing fearfully from the bad disorder, and was willing to 
give half his kingdom to be cured. 

Velosianus set sail for Judea and completed the voyage 
(of 1,500 miles) in a year and seven days. (Fast sailing 
that was! four miles a day!) At Jerusalem he had an 
interview with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who 
told him all they knew about Jesus. Then he heard the 
woman Veronica tell how she was healed of a twelve 
years' abscess. Velosianus was so moved at these narra- 
tions that he had almost a mind to put Pilate to death. 

At last he inquired for the portrait of the Lord, and 
was told that Veronica had it. He sent for her, and she 
denied having it. But on being put to the torture she 
confessed like a true Christian martyr that she had it 
wrapped in clean linen, and that she daily adored it. The 
picture being produced Velosianus prostrated himself 
before it, and without delay returned to Kome, taking 
along with him not only the portrait of the Lord, but 
*' all his disciples " and Signora Veronica, who for the love 
of Christ insisted on following the picture. 

The return voyage took a year. (A land turtle could 
make better time.) Tiberius rejoiced, hoping he was now 
going to get cured. Velosianus, after reporting that all 
the kings of Judea had been hanged by Titus, that Annas 
and Caiaphas had been stoned, that Archelaus had killed 
himself, and Pilate had been sent a prisoner to Damascus, 
informed the Emperor that he had found and brought 
with him the wonderful portrait of Christ. Tiberius 
asked to see it, and when it was spread out before him 



268 THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS. 

be adored the image of the Lord, and was at once cleansed 
of his leprosy ; and not only he, but other lepers present, 
together with the blind, the lame, the dumb, the deaf, and 
those otherwise diseased. (It would seem as if there was a 
hospital full of 'em. ) Then Tiberius wanted to be baptized, 
and Velosianus produced one of the disciples of Christ 
who did it. Reader, which one of the disciples do you 
guess that was 1 Peter ? No ; it was Captain Nathan, 
the Ishmaelite. 

Signora Veronica could have claimed half the empire 
as the promised fee for curing his Majesty, but nothing 
is said about the settlement with her. Tiberius was at 
once "instructed in all the articles of faith," and became 
the first Christian Emperor. 

The Apocryphal Gospels are ended. How much do we 
know about Jesus ? 



CHAPTER XLI. 

KECENT CHRISTIAN FOEGERIES. 

As a fit sequel to the Apocryphal Gospels relating to 
the crucifixion we append two recent forgeries of the 
same sort. 

Several years ago a German newspaper printed the 
following, which we translate into English : 

Loss OF A Eemakkable Historical Document. 

Within a few weeks France has experienced sad losses by fire. 
As already stated, by the burning of the very ancient Loraine 
Museum at Nancy, antiquities which cannot be replaced have been 
destroyed. A few days later the Archbishop's palace at Bourges 
was burnt down ; and here highly precious manuscript and anti- 
quities perished in the flames, together with a particularly import- 
ant historical document, the order of the execution against Jesus 
Christ. This satisfactory and authentically proved document was 



RECENT CHRISTIAN FORGERIES. 269 

for hundreds of years in possession of the family of Latour 
D'Auvergne, and was preserved as a precious relic in the Arch- 
bishop's Museum. We give below a verbatim translation from the 
Latin text : 

"Jesus of Nazareth, of the tribe of Judah, found guilty of dis- 
turbance and rebellion against the godly power of Tiberius Augus- 
tus, Emperor of Eome, for this treason, condemned to die on the 
cross by the decision of Judge Pontius Pilate, and approved by our 
master Herod, representative of the Emperor in Judea, shall, early 
to-morrow, the 23d day of the Ides of March, at the common place 
of execution under accompaniment of a company of Pretorian 
guards, suffer death. The so-called King of the Jews shall be 
taken out by the Strunium gate. Accompanying public officers and 
subordinates of the Emperor are hereby ordered to give a hand to 
the carrying out of this judgment. 

"Jerusalem, the 22d day of the Ides of March, in the year 
[a. u. a] 783." 

The forgery of this document is betrayed by the ex- 
pression, "23d day of the Ides of March." There were 
but seventeen Ides of March ; and what is more, they 
were reckoned backward from the 1st of April, so that the 
17th before the Calends of April would be March 15th. 
That was as far back as the Ides could go. The 23d, if 
such a reckoning were possible, would be March 9th. 

But March 9th would be many days too early. The 
crucifixion took place, according to the Synoptics, on the 
great Passover day, which was the 14th of the month 
Nisan, corresponding to our April; and though the 
Jewish months varied according to the moon, it was im- 
possible for the 1st of Nisan to fall an entire lunar month 
earlier than the 1st of April. Consequently the 14th of 
Nisan could never be as early even as the middle of 
March. 

Again, this document contradicts all the Evangelists in 
making the trial and sentence precede the crucifixion by 
one day. 

Furthermore, it dates the event in the year 783 a. u. o., 
i. e.f A. D. 30 or 31. Now the date heretofore most gen- 



270 EECENT CHKISTIAN FORGERIES. 

erally adopted is a. d. 33 ; but the latest authorities are 
compelled to abandon that and all other dates later than 
A. D. 29, which agrees not only with the ancient authori- 
ties, but with recently-discovered Syriac documents of a 
very early period. Clement of Alexandria (a. d. 200) 
positively affirms that Jesus suffered in the 15th year of 
Tiberius (a. d. 29 ;) and Tertullian not only says the same, 
but fixes the day, March 25. (Misc. i. To the Jews, viii.) 

Another document of a like character lately appeared 
in the Meligio-Philosophical Journal, copied apparently 
from some other newspaper, as follows : 

Death Waerant of Jesus Cheist. 

Out of the many interesting relics and fragments brougM to 
light by the persevering researches of antiquarians, none could be 
more interesting to the philanthropist and believer than the follow- 
ing — to Christians the most imposing judicial document ever re- 
corded in human annals. It has been thus faithfully translated : 

" Sentence rendered by Pontius Pilate, acting Governor of Lower 
Galilee, stating that Jesus of Nazareth shall suffer death on the 
cross. 

" In the year seventeen of the Emperor Tiberius Caesar, [a. d. 
31,] and the 27th day of March, the city of Holy Jerusalem — An- 
nas and Caiaphas being priests, sanctifiers of the people of God — 
Pontius Pilate, Governor of Lower Galilee, sitting in the Presiden- 
tial chair of the Pretorium, condemns Jesus of Nazareth to die on 
the cross, between two thieves, the great and notorious evidence of 
the people saying : 

"1. He is a redeemer. 2. He is seditious. 3. He is the enemy 
of the law. 4. He caUs himself, falsely, the Son of •God. 5. He 
calls himself, falsely, the King of Israel. 6. He entered the tem- 
ple followed by a multitude having palm branches in their hands. 

" Order the first Centurion, Quintius Cornelius, to lead him to 
the place of execution. 

" Forbid any person whomsoever, either rich or poor, to oppose 
the death of Jesus Christ. 

" The witnesses who signed the condemnation of Jesus are : 

"1. Daniel Kobani, a Pharisee ; 2. Joannes Eobani ; 3. Raphael 
Eobani ; 4. Japet, a citizen. 

"Jesus shall go out of the city of Jerusalem by the gate of 
Strannus. " 

The foregoing is engraved on copper-plate on the reverse of 
which is written : "A similar plate is sent to each tribe." It was 



RECENT CHRISTIAN FORGERIES. 271 

found in an antique marble vase, while excavating in the ancient 
city of Aquilla, iu'the kingdom of Naples, in the year 1810, and 
was discovered by the Commissioner of Arts of the French Army. 
At the expedition of Naples, it was enclosed in a box of ebony and 
preserved in the sacristy of the Carthusians. The French transla- 
tions were made by the Commissioners of Arts. The original is in 
the Hebrew language. 

If such a document was ever found engraved on a 
copper-plate in Hebrew among the ruins of an ancient 
Italian city, it is as contemptible a forgery as the pre- 
tended plates of the book of Mormon. 

It makes Annas and Caiaphas high priests at the same 
time. ' This is a gross historical error. Annas was high 
priest from a. d. 12 to 21, and Caiaphas from a. d. 23 to 
36. (McClint. & Strong, Cyc.) 

It also makes Pontius Pilate Governor of "Lower 
Galilee," ^. e. the region about Lake Tiberius. Herod 
Antipas was tetrarch of that division of Palestine, and 
Pilate was procurator of Judea only. 

It dates the death warrant of Jesus March 27th, which 
not only disagrees with the other document, but with 
the best authorities. Smith's Bible Dictionary, for ex- 
ample, which puts the crucifixion on the 8th of April. 

But to show not only the uncertainty but the impossi- 
bility of assigning any date, either as to year or day, we 
now quote from the latest Christian authority, " McClin- 
tock and Strong's Cyclopedia of Keligious Knowledge," 
article " Chronology :" 

' ' The astronomical element of the question — namely, that in the 
year of the Passion, the 14th of Nisan fell on Friday — if rigorously 
applied, ^. c, according to a definite rule of the Jewish usage and 
the results of strict lunar calculation, indicates only one of the six 
years mentioned [from a. d. 28 to 33, inclusive,] viz., A. D. 29, in 
which the 14th Nisan was the 18th of March and Friday. If a 
certain laxity as to the rule be allowed, a 14th Nisan may possibly 
have fallen on the 3d of April, Friday, in a. d. 33. But if in com- 



272 EECENT CHRISTIAN FORGERIES. 

pliance with the apparent import of the first three Gospels, without 
explanation from the 4th, it is contended that the crucifixion took 
place on the day after [!] the Passover, the year may have been 
A. D. 30, in which the 15th [!] Msan fell on Friday, 7th April, or 
A. D. 33, in which it was (in strictness) Friday, 3d April. Lastly, if 
it be maintained that the Jewish Passover day was regulated not by 
actual observation of the moon's phases, but by cycles more or less 
faulty, any year whatever in the series may be made available in 
one form or other of the hypothesis." 

The authority above cited declares that the crucifixion 
cannot be placed earlier than a. d. 28, and that no in- 
quirers of any note put it later than a. d. 33; and it 
accepts 29 as the most probable, if not the only possible, 
year. But now mark : The writer admits that on none 
of those six years could the 14th of Nisan fall on Friday 
according to strict Jewish usage, except in the year 29, 
when it would he the 18th of March — that is to say, if 
the 1st of Nisan ever fell as early as the 5th of March, 
which is impossible, being opposed not only to Jewish 
and Christian authority, but to astronomical science. 

The Jewish Passover never occurs before the 26th of 
March, nor Easter Sunday before the 22d. (Chamb. Enc.) 

So then if, as the Synoptics distinctly say, Christ was 
crucified on Friday, the great day of the Passover, astro- 
nomical science proves that it could not have been in any 
year between a. d. 28 and 33, inclusive. 

The author of the above quoted article on " Chronol- 
ogy " seems to have realized this difficulty, for, like a 
drowning man catching at a straw, he seizes upon a sup- 
posed laxity of Jewish usage whereby Friday, the 14th 
of Nisan, may possibly have fallen on April 3d, a. d. 33. 
And again he supposes a further laxity of interpretation 
of the Synoptics, by which they are tortured into making 
the crucifixion take place on the day after the Passover, 
in which case it may have been Friday, April 7th, a. d. 



EECENT CHRISTIAN FORGERIES. 273 

30 ; or, by a returning strictness of Jewish usage, it may- 
have been Friday, April 3d, a. d. 33. 

" If the blind lead the bHnd, both shall fall into the 
ditch." Every learned Jew knows that the Passover 
never was allowed to come on Friday; and even if it 
did, their laws and customs forbade trials and execu- 
tions on that day. 

It is a hopeless task to ascertain the day and year of 
the crucifixion of Christ, because no such event happened 
under the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate. 



CHAPTEK XLH. 

THE APOCEYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 

Traces of some of these books are found in the 2d cen- 
tury, and several of them were condemned by Pope 
Gelasius about a. d. 500. They come down to us greatly 
changed from their original form, in which some of them 
were used and highly esteemed by the Gnostics. We 
will give only a scanty sketch of their salient points. 

Acts of Peter and Paul. — When Paul landed at Pon- 
tiole (Puteoli) he hid himself a week with some of Peter's 
disciples to avoid capture by Cesar's officers. Meanwhile 
his friend Dioscorus, the ship-captain, being bald-headed, 
was mistaken for the Apostle by Nero's men and beheaded. 
Paul then travelled to Rome unmolested. There, to the 
chagrin of the Jews, he affiliated with Peter. Simon 
Magus was also there claiming to be " the Lord Jesus 
Christ." Soon Peter, Paul, and Simon were arrested and 
tried before Nero. The result has been stated heretofore. 
(See pp. 112, 181.) Simon in the act of flying fell down 
dead in the Sacra Via, and soon afterwards, June 29th, 
Paul was beheaded and Peter crucified. Holy men, 



274 THE APOCRYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 

straight from Jerusalem, superintended their funeral, and 
predicted that " Nero himself after these not many days 
will be utterly destroyed ;" pursuant to which prophecy 
the Emperor fled into the desert and perished " through 
hunger and cold^' June 11th, a. d. 68, eighteen days be- 
fore the prophecy was uttered ! 

Acts of Paul and Thecla. — The beautiful maiden 
Thecla was converted by listening from her window to 
the preaching of Paul in an adjoining house at Iconium, 
(a. d. 45 ; Acts xiv, 1-5.) Then she refused to marry her 
lover Thamyris, who therefore caused Paul to be im- 
prisoned. Thecla bribed the jailor and joined Paul. 
Her mother was enraged at such conduct and besought 
the governor to burn her daughter. Accordingly, after 
scourging and casting Paul out of the city, the governor 
proceeded to burn Thecla. But the Lord appeared to 
her "in the likeness of Paul, (previously described as 
" small in size, bald-headed, bandy-legged, with eyebrows 
meeting, and a rather long nose,") and she put out the 
blazing fagots by making " the sign of the cross." After- 
wards she followed Paul to Antioch, where again she 
escaped a martyr's death, the wild beasts refusing to 
devour her. She was now 18 years of age. Again she 
went in quest of Paul, and met him at Myra in Lycia, 
(a. d. 62 ; Acts xxvii, 5.) Then she returned to Iconium, 
and having exhorted her mother to believe, went and 
dwelt in a cave at Seleucia 72 years, when, having 
miraculously escaped ravishment by some wicked young 
men, she journeyed to Kome at the age of 90, hoping to 
find Paul. But the Apostle was dead, (some 60 years or 
more,) and the venerable virgin soon also died and was 
buried near Paul's tomb. 

Acts of Barnabas. — After separating from Paul, Barna- 
bas went to Cyprus witlj John, surnamed Mark. There 



THE APOCRYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 275 

he cured the sick by laying upon them a " Book of the 
Word of God, and a Narrative of Miracles and Doctrines," 
which he had received from Matthew. From Cyprus he 
sailed to Salamis, where he was seized and burned to 
death by the Jews. But John Mark gathered up his 
ashes and documents, and eluding the search of the Jews 
by hiding in a cave escaped by ship to Alexandria. 

Acts of Philip. — In the beginning of Trajan's reign, 
(a. d. 98,) Philip went to Lydia with Bartholomew and 
his sister Mariamne. After performing many miracles at 
Ophioryma, the Hierapolis of Asia, they were all arrested 
by the proconsul, whose wife had become converted. 
Philip was hung by his ancles pierced with iron hooks. 
Bartholomew was nailed to the gate of the temple. While 
thus suffering the Apostle John visited them, unrecog- 
nized by the people until he began to protest against the 
persecution. Philip in his impatient zeal caused the earth 
to swallow the proconsul and several thousand others. 
But the Savior appeared and reproved Philip, and having 
raised the victims all out of Hades, imposed on the Apos- 
tle, as a penalty, that he should be kept waiting outside 
the gates of Paradise 40 days. The penitent proconsul 
was now eager to release Philip, who had been hanging 
by the heels six days, but the martyr forbade it and re- 
quested the release of Bartholomew. Philip soon died, 
and was buried by Bartholomew, who, as Philip prophe- 
sied, was reserved for crucifixion at Lycaonia. 

Another legend. Acts of Philip in Hellas., relates that 
Ananias, the high priest of Jerusalem, (a. d. 12-21, or 
48-55,) hearing that Philip was in Athens, went with 500 
soldiers to bring him back, so that Archelaus, the King, 
(who was banished a. d. 7,) might kill him. But Philip 
paralyzed the high priest and sent him down by degrees 



276 THE APOCKYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 

to Hades ; tben the 500 soldiers were converted to Christ, 
and the Apostle continued in Athens two years. 

Acts of Andreio. — The proconsul of Achaia, after a vain 
effort to make Andrew renounce Christ, crucified him at 
Patras. The Apostle smiled amid his sufferings and ha- 
rangued the 20,000 spectators. After hanging four days 
without food, the proconsul, through fear of the people, 
ordered Andrew released. But the martyr forbade it, 
saying it was too late to save his life. Nevertheless, the 
officers and people undertook to untie the ropes, but 
Christ paralyzed their hands. Then the Apostle prayed 
the Lord to receive his spirit before his body should be 
taken down, and his prayer was answered. He died en- 
circled with dazzling light. 

Acts of Andreio and Matthias. — To Matthias was 
allotted the country of the Man-eaters. Arriving at the 
gate of their city, he was arrested, blinded, and put in 
prison, to be fattened for food. After 27 days had 
passed, and only three more remained before he was to 
be eaten, Andrew suddenly entered the prison, having 
been conducted there partly by sea in a little boat, whose 
.pilot was Jesus in disguise, and partly overland, while 
asleep in the arms of angels. Matthias and numerous 
other prisoners being miraculously released and spirited 
away, the people of the town were threatened with fam- 
ine, and had to substitute for their victims 217 of the 
oldest inhabitants. But Andrew by the power of prayer 
stayed their execution. Then the Devil told them to 
catch and kill Andrew, who had caused the mischief. By 
the advice of the Lord, Andrew surrendered and was tor- 
tured for three days. But he caused water to flow from 
the mouth of a statue in prison and drown a m-ultitude of 
the people, when the rest repented and released the 
Apostle. Then he restored the drowned to life, founded 
a church, and after seven days at the command of Christ 
went to the country of the Barbarians. 

Acts of Peter and Andrew. — Departing from the city 
of the Man-eaters, a luminous cloud snatched up Andrew 
and bore him away to a mountain where Peter, Matthew, 



THE APOCRYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 277 

and Alexander were sitting. Then Christ appeared in 
the form of a child, saying, " Hail Peter, Bishop of my 
whole church ; hail Andrew ;" and after giving them in- 
structions he vanished. Going into the city of the Bar- 
barians, the Apostles converted many and wrought mira- 
cles. Onesiphorus, a rich man, wanted to learn the art 
of miracle working. Andrew promised him the power on 
condition of forsaking wife, children, and property. This 
so offended him that he assaulted Andrew. Peter told 
him to stop. The rich man said, "Do thou, then, tell me 
to leave my, wife, children, and goods?" Peter answered, 
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a nee- 
dle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven." 
That made the nabob angrier still, and he began to assault 
Peter ; but he stopped and said if Peter would make a 
camel do that feat he would believe in his God. Peter 
was afraid he couldn't do it, but the Lord again appeared 
and told him to go ahead. A believing friend proposed 
to get a big needle, but Peter preferred a small one. 
Then he fixed it in the ground and ordered a camel to go 
through the eye. The eye opened like a gate and the 
animal went through twice. Again, to satisfy Onesipho- 
rus, the miracle was repeated with another needle and 
another camel. Then he believed, and gave up every- 
thing for the power of performing that miracle. 

Acts of Mattheic. — While Matthew in his Apostolic 
robes was praying, Jesus appeared in the likeness of an 
infant, and giving him a rod told him to go to Myrna, the 
city of the Man-eaters, and plant it by the gate of the 
church which Andrew and Matthew (?) had founded. 
The Apostle obeyed, and in one day the rod grew into a 
great tree and bore fruit. 

The wife and son of King Fulvianus having become 
converted and attached to Matthew, the King arrested 
the Apostle and resolved to burn him. The executioners 
nailed his hands and feet to the ground, and piled upon 
his body asphalt, oil, brimstone, pitch, paper, and brush- 
wood ten cubits high. But when the fire was lighted it 
<3hanged to dew. Then they heaped on live coals from 
the bath-furnace, while a circle of gods was set around 
the victim five cubits off. But the only effect of the fire 



278 THE APOCRYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 

was to burn up the idols and chase the King to his pal- 
ace. Then he released Matthew, but too late to save him. 
The Apostle died, and the converted monarch abdicated 
the throne and became a Bishop. 

Acts of Thomas. — This book is said to have been 
highly esteemed by the " heretics " of 'ih^ first and second 
centuries. (Why not even earlier? See chapter xliv: 
The Gnostics.) Like all the other Apocryphal books, 
this one has iDeen changed and adapted to orthodox 
use. 

To Thomas was assigned the see of India. Being in 
ill health, he declined to go in spite of the pleading of 
his Savior, who appeared to him at night. Then Jesus 
resorted to a bold stratagem. Finding an agent of (in 
Indian King in search of a carpenter, the Lord sold the 
Apostle to him, making out a regular bill of sale for three 
pounds of silver. The slave dared not deny that his divine 
Master owned him. But Jesus very kindly gave Thomas 
the silver. On reaching India the Apostolic ca>rpenter 
contracted to build a palace for King Gundaphorus. The 
money was advanced from time to time, but his Majesty 
at length found that no work had been done. The con- 
tractor being called to account, said he had built a palace 
in the Heavens for the King to enter after death. The 
angry monarch resolved to kill Thomas, and would have 
done it but for the Apostle's restoring to life the. King's 
brother, which not only saved Thomas's life but converted 
the King. The royal disciple was then baptized with 
oil ! 

But Thomas suffered martyrdom under another king^ 
Misdeus, who nevertheless afterwards became a Christian 
in consequence of the cure of his demoniac son by the 
dust of the Apostle's grave. The martyr's bones were 
sought for, but they had gone West. 

Martyrdom of Bartholo^new. — This Apostle did not 
die at Lycaonia, as Philip predicted, but went to India 
and took up his quarters in the temple of the god Asta- 
ruth, who thereafter became dumb and impotent. The 
god Becher, of another city, being inquired of, said the 
silence 6i Astaruth was caused by the presence of an 
Apostle of Almighty God, who had been sent to take 



THE APOCRYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 279 

away the worship of idols. And Becher described Bar- 
tholomew accurately, especially his clothes, which had 
been worn 26 years without getting ragged or dirty. 

The Apostle cured a demoniac daughter of King Poly- 
mius, and made the god Astaruth speak and confess in 
presence of the priests that he could no longer respond 
or cure. Then the King embraced Christianity, abdi- 
cated his throne, and became a Bishop. But his elder 
brother, Astreges, also a king, sent an army and beheaded 
the Apostle. Thirty days afterwards, however, King As- 
treges and all his priests were strangled by demons. 

Acts of Thaddeus. — This legend says that when King 
Abgar sent the letter to Jesus Christ he received only a 
verbal answer and a towel on which the likeness of our 
Savior was photographed by wiping his face. It also 
says that the King was cured before the Apostle arrived. 
(See p. 147.) From Edessa, Thaddeus went to Amis, on 
the Tigris, where he remained five years. Then he vis- 
ited other cities of Syria, and ended his days at Berytus 
(Beyrout) instead of Edessa. (See p. 165.) 

Acts of John. — Domitian issued an edict that all who 
confessed themselves Christians should be put to death 
without trial. John was prophesying the fall of the Ro- 
man empire. Domitian summoned him from Ephesus to 
Rome. John, though of " common, low, and poor appear- 
ance," impressed the soldiers with his sanctity. The 
Emperor upon hearing the Apostle's explanation of his 
theological views, and seeing him drink deadly poison 
without harm, commuted the penalty in his case to ban- 
ishment in Patmos. After Domitian's death John was 
recalled and lived at Ephesus till the reign of Trajan, 
when he disappeared in this wise : After administering 
the Eucharist on the Lord's day he went out of the city 
with his brethren and ordered a grave dug. Throwing 
in it his clothes, he stood in his drawers and prayed, and 
then dismissed his brethren. The next day when they 
came there they found only his sandals and a fountain 
welling up. Then they remembered what the Lord said 
to Peter : " What does it concern thee if I should wish 
him to remain until I come f Who knows, therefore, 
whether John is dead yet % 



280 THE APOCRYPHAL ACTS AND REVELATIONS. 

Revelation of Moses. — Adam and Eve had thirty sons 
and thirty daughters. Adam died surrounded by his 
vrife and sons. In six days Eve also died. Their bodies, 
with that of Abel, were taken by angels to Paradise and 
anointed with olive oil, and God promised to raise them 
up at the last day. 

Revelatyiofi of Esdras. — This prophet, who lived 500 
B. c, has a vision of angels, patriarchs, and apostles. He 
speaks of Herod, Paul, and John, and pleads for " the 
race of Christians." He visits Tartarus, where among 
other suffering sinners he sees Antichrist, and gives a 
graphic description of him. (See our title page.) 

Revelation of Paid. — This book was found in a marble' 
box underneath Paul's house at Tarsus, by direction of an 
angel. Paul describes his vision of the third heaven of 
Paradise. He also sees the damned in torments, among 
whom are those who denied the real presence and that 
Mary was the mother of God. 

Revelation of John. — This is in part an amplification 
of the canonical Book. After the death of Enoch, Elias, 
and Antichrist, all mankind shall die. In the resurrec- 
tion all will be thirty years old. 

The Falling Asleep of Mary. — The holy Virgin in her 
last moments was attended by the twelve Apostles, in- 
cluding Paul, Luke, and Mark, and excluding Matthew, 
Matthias, and James the son of Alpheus, all miraculously 
brought together, two being raised from the dead. Mary 
was buried in Gethse'inane. 

The Passing of Mary. — This is a different story of 
her death, which occurred the second year after the cru- 
cifixion. Other disciples are named as being present, but 
Thomas arrived after the burial in the valley of Jehosa- 
phat. He had just been singing mass in India, and ap- 
peared in sacerdotal robes. But he saw what the rest 
did not. A great light prostrated them while Thomas 
beheld Mary's body taken up to Heaven by angels. He 
told the brethren of it, but they would not believe it till 
they reopened the tomb and found the body of the Mother 
of God missing. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

STOKY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

The Successob of St. Petee. 

The "Recognitions of Clement," and the "Clementine 
Homilies," both purport to be written by Clement, the 
successor of Peter. Each work makes in English over 
300 printed pages, and the story is substantially the 
same in both, though differing in some important par- 
ticulars, just as the 1st or 2d Gospel differs from the 3d 
or 4th. It is no longer regarded as a statement of facts, 
but as a theological romance, written some time between 
A. D. 150 and 300. Of the " Recognitions " we have only a 
Latin translation made about a. d. 400, but the " Homi- 
lies " have come down to us in the original Greek. From 
the latter work we now present an abridgment, and if the 
story does not prove as instructive as the Gospel and as 
amusing as a dime novel, then let Anticheist be crucified 
between Beecher and Tilton. 

From earliest youth Clement was chaste and thought- 
ful. Questions like these caused anxious thought and 
bitter grief : When I die, shall I cease to be 1 Was the 
world created, or did it always exist ? If it was created, 
will it be dissolved 1 And if it shall be dissolved, will it 
be followed by nothing, or by something inconceivable ? 

Unable to drive away these meditations, he resolved to 
visit Egypt and there bribe a magician to call up a de- 
parted soul and thus obtain ocular proof of immortality. 
But a friendly philosopher dissuaded him, saying that if 
the soul should not obey the magician's call it would only 
make the matter worse ; and if it should answer the sum- 



282 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

mens, Clement might incur the anger of the Deity for 
breaking his laws, which forbid the disturbing of souls 
after their release from the body. 

While thus distressed and wasted away by these reflec- 
tions, a report came during the reign of Tiberius Cesar, 
that "a certain one in Judea, beginning in the spring 
season, was preaching to the Jews the Kingdom of God," 
working wonderful miracles, and even raising the dead. 
At length meetings began to be held in various places 
until " in the same year, in the autumn season, a certain 
one, standing in a public place, cried and said:" 

"Men of Rome hearken. The Son of God is come in Judea, 
proclaiming eternal life to all who will, if they shall live according 
to the counsel of the Father, who hath sent him. Wherefore change 
your manner of life from the worse to the better, from things tem- 
poral to things eternal ; for know ye that there is one God, who is 
in heaven, whose world ye unrighteously dwell in before his right- 
eous eyes. But if ye be changed, and live according to his counsel, 
then, being born into the other world and becoming eternal, ye shall 
enjoy his unspeakable good things. But if ye be unbelieving, your 
souls, after the dissolution of the body, shall be thrown into the 
place of fire, where, being punished eternally, they shall repent of 
their unprofitable deeds." 

Mark the chronology. In the spring season the Son 
of God began preaching in Judea ; in the autumn of the 
same year the people of Rome are told : " The Son of God 
is come in Judea." 

Clement was so deeply impressed that he resolved to 
hasten to Judea. His worldly affairs being difficult to 
arrange, after some delay (in the ''Recognitions" it is 
only a few days) he left them unsettled and departed. 
He sailed directly for Judea, but was borne by adverse 
winds to Alexandria, where he was detained by stress of 
weather. There he consulted with the philosophers about 
the rumor he had heard at Rome. They said they too 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 283 

had heard about the wonderful works performed by a so- 
called Son of God in Judea. Indeed, there was a Hebrew 
named Barnabas now in Alexandria preaching on the sub- 
ject to the people. 

Straightway Clement went and listened to Barnabas, 
who told the people what he had heard and seen the Son 
of God say and do, and appealed to many witnesses pres- 
ent for the truth of what he affirmed. Some of the phi- 
losophers made sport of the artless preacher and pro- 
pounded to him curious questions. But he would not be 
diverted from declaring his important message. Then 
the crowd set up a shout of laughter, hoping to silence 
the barbarous madman. This excited the indignation of 
Clement, who made a speech in defence of Barnabas. 
But the tumult was so great that Clement led Barnabas 
away, and for safety took him to his own lodgings. There 
he received instructions from Barnabas for several days 
until the latter left for Judea to attend a festival. Clem- 
ent was anxious to sail with him, but remained to recover 
a debt. After spending some days and recovering only a 
part of the debt he set sail for Judea, and in fifteen days 
arrived at Cesarea Stratonis. There he learned that one 
Peter, the most esteemed disciple of the Man who had 
appeared in Judea, was going to have a controversy the 
next day with Simon, a Samaritan. 

Ascertaining where Peter lodged, Clement went there, 
and while standing at the door Barnabas came out and 
embraced him with tears of joy. Then taking him by 
the hand he led him in and introduced him to Peter. 
Peter kissed Clement. Barnabas had spoken about him 
almost every day. Peter was going to speak from city to 
city till he reached Rome, and he invited Clement to 
travel along with him, and receive instruction. 

Clement was glad to accept the invitation, but first ho 



284 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

was anxious to get a satisfactory answer to the questions 
that had so long troubled him, about the immortality of 
the soul and so forth. Peter began at once to answer 
them, the gist of the solution being this : The mind has 
been darkened by evil and needs a helper in the person 
of the true Prophet. Now having first tested the Prophet 
and found him true, we should not sit in judgment upon 
his sayings, but receive them all in faith. Who that true 
Prophet was, and how he was to be known, Peter ex- 
plained, to Clement's great astonishment and entire sat- 
isfaction ; and by Peter's order he wrote down the dis- 
course and sent it to Bishop James, in accordance with 
the latter's charge to send his discourses and acts year by 
year. These writings, under the name of the " Preach- 
ing of Peter " and the " Travels of Peter," have not come 
down to us, except as they may be contained in the 
"Homilies" and "Eecognitions." 

Peter gave thanks to God for Clement's conversion, and 
having taken supper in private, he ordered the same for 
Clement, telling him that after he was baptized he could 
sit at the same table with himself. Peter was particular 
to say grace before and after meat, and having pronounced 
a blessing on Clement, he enjoined him to go to rest. 

Note here and hereafter that the Son of God, who but 
a few months ago began and a few days ago was still 
preaching in Judea, is no longer there. 

Before dawn the next morning, Clement awoke, and 
learning that Peter was already up and talking to his at- 
tendants, went in and saluted him. The names of these 
attendants, sixteen in number, are all given. Zaccheus, 
the publican, was the principal one. Peter broke off his 
conversation and asked Clement to be seated. Then he 
resumed his instructions to Clement concerning the true 
Prophet, expounding a singular doctrine of pairs and op- 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 285 

posites to this effect : God in the beginning made heaven 
and earth, day and night, Hght and fire, sun and moon, 
life and death. With God the greater things came first 
and the smaller afterwards. But with man, who was 
made free, to be either righteous or wicked, the combina- 
tion was reversed. For instance, first comes the world, 
then eternity; first ignorance, then knowledge. Thus 
from Adam came first the unrighteous Cain, then the 
righteous Abel ; from Noah, first the black raven, then 
the white dove ; from Abraham, first Ishmael, then Isaac ; 
from Isaac, first Esau, then Jacob. So first came the 
high priest Aaron, then the lawgiver Moses ; first John 
the Baptist, then Jesus. So again first came Simon 
Magus, then Peter ; and toward the end will come first 
Antichrist, then Jesus Christ. If people understood this 
law of combination they would not be deceived by this 
fellow Simon. 

Clement wished to be informed about Simon. Peter 
said he had learned about him from one Justa, a Syro- 
Phenecian, whose daughter our Lord had healed, (Mark 
vii, 24-30,) and also from the woman's two adopted sons, 
Aquila and Nicetas, who had been educated and associated 
from boyhood with Simon, but had lately renounced his 
doctrines and joined the disciples of Jesus. The young 
men were now present, and at Peter's request, being duly 
sworn to tell the truth, deposed as follows : 

Simon was the son of Antonius and Eachel, a Samari- 
tan by race, of the village of Gitthse, not far distant. He 
was educated in Alexandria and became the first and most 
esteemed of the disciples of John the Baptist, the fore- 
runner of Jesus Christ. John had thirty chief disciples, 
corresponding to the days of a lunar month, (29J days,) 
one of the thirty being a female, reckoned as half a man. 
Her name was Helena. Simon being absent in Egypt 



286 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

when John was killed, Dositheus, another disciple, gave 
out that Simon was dead, and by that fraud succeeded to 
the leadership. Simon on his return took a politic course 
of pretended acquiescence in being counted out. But he 
began to accuse Dositheus of ignorance in delivering the 
instructions. Dositheus hearing of it, came to the meet- 
ing in a rage, and finding Simon, struck him with a staff. 
But to his utter amazement the rod passed through Si- 
mon's body as if it had been smoke. Thereupon Dosi- 
theus fell down and worshipped Simon as the " Stand- 
ing One," and not many days afterward fell down dead. 

Simon then being the chief, went about with sister 
Helena performing feats of magic and pretending that he 
had brought her down from heaven, she being " Wisdom, 
the Queen of Heaven, the mother of all." Aquila and 
Nicetas, his fellow-disciples, co(3perated with him so long 
as he maintained the interests of religion, but when he 
began to deceive devout people they withdrew. For 
Simon disclosed to them that he had actually committed 
murder — that having separated the soul of a child from 
its body by horrid incantations, he drew the likeness of 
the boy and put it in his sleeping room, pretending that 
he had once formed the boy of air and had then given it 
back to air. This he made people believe, but Aquila and 
Nicetas knowing just how the thing was done, denounced 
and forsook him. They had never assisted him in any 
impious work — only looked on — and when he told the 
people that what he did was by means of the Godhead, they 
warned him to desist and threatened exposure. Simon 
begged them to remain with him and keep silence, prom- 
ising them great honors and boundless wealth. But they 
told him he could not be a God — that life was short and 
ill-gotten gain would consign its possessor to everlasting 
woe. Simon scoffed at their belief in the immortality of 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 287 

the soul. They told him he was the last person to ques- 
tion it, because he claimed to have separated a soul from 
a human body and to have talked vrith and commanded 
it. Simon explained that it was not a soul but a certain 
demon that pretended to be a soul. If so, said they, how 
was it that when one soul was conjured sometimes an- 
other came, as if it were frightened 1 And sometimes 
when the manifestation stopped did he not pretend 
that the power of the departed soul to come back had 
ceased ? And why did the conjured soul or demon, 
whichever it was, obey at all ? Simon answered, " Be- 
cause it knows it will be punished if it disobeys." Then 
said they, " You admit there is a judgment to come ; do 
you not fear that you will yourself suffer the penalty of 
these wicked deeds ?" At this Simon was enraged and 
threatened to kill them if they exposed him. 

Clement wanted to know what were the prodigies that 
Simon wrought. They told him they were such as 
these : He flies, opens barred gates, makes statues walk, 
rolls himself in the fire, makes bread of stone, assumes 
two faces, changes himself into gold and transforms him- 
self into a goat or a serpent. Clement was amazed, but 
the fact that Simon did these things was confirmed by 
other witnesses present. 

Peter now resumed his discourse, pointing out the dif- 
ference between a true and a false prophet, namely: 
The false prophet performs unprofitable miracles, the 
true prophet useful ones. 

It was now dawn and Zaccheus came in and announced 
that Simon had put off the discussion till to-morrow, to- 
day being his Sabbath, which occurred every eleventh 
day. Peter acquiesced in the postponement. 

The delay of the discussion was a disappointment to 
Clement, but Peter thought it would be profitable, as it 



288 STOKY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, < 

gave time for further instruction. He had learned from 
spies who had attended upon Simon as pretended dis- 
ciples what his purpose was and what arguments he was 
going to use. For this Peter thanked God on the one 
hand, and congratulated Clement on the other, because 
by being instructed beforehand as to the arguments used 
by Simon for the destruction of the ignorant, Clement 
would be able to listen without danger of falling. 

Peter admitted that many " falsehoods " against God 
had been interpolated in the Mosaic law, and this had 
been permitted for a wise purpose. Simon was going to 
make those added chapters in the Scriptures a strong 
point. Now it would not do to concede in public that 
those chapters are false, because that would perplex the 
ignorant, cause them to reject the whole, and so accom- 
plish the purpose of the wicked Simon. It was necessary 
therefore to assent to their truth, but in so doing he 
would draw Simon into a strait by questions. The 
mystery of the self-contradictions of the Scriptures could 
be explained in private to the faithful. 

Cliement was eager to hear the explanation. Peter de- 
clared those portions of the Scriptures false which repre- 
sent that God shares his government with others, that he 
lies, that he is changeable, that he is jealous, that he 
hardens men's hearts, commits theft, mocks men, is un- 
just, is the author of evil, dwells in tabernacles, approves 
of burnt offerings, is fond of fat and wine, is pleased 
with candles, dwells in darkness, storm, and smoke, 
shouts and blows trumpets, shoots darts and arrows, 
loves war, breaks his promises, loves wicked men, adul- 
terers and murderers. On the contrary, God the Father 
and Creator is good and righteous altogether. 

Clement. — But how are you going to answer Simon 
when he makes these charges ? How, for instance, when 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 289 

the Scriptures say God is ignorant will you prove he is 
not? 

Peter.— Easily enough ; but first answer me this ques- 
tion : He who wrote the Bible and told how the world 
was made and said that God does not foreknow, was he 
a man or not ? 

C. — He was a man. 

P. — How then could he know these things ? 

C. — Well, he was a prophet. 

P. — If then he was a prophet, having received fore- 
knowledge from God, how could God, who gave to him 
foreknowledge, himself be ignorant ? 

C. — Very true. 

P. — One step further. It being acknowledged that 
God foreknows all things, are not the Scriptures false 
which say he is ignorant, and true which say he knows ? 

C. — Certainly. 

P. — If therefore some of the Scriptures are true and 
some false, with good reason said our Master, " Be ye 
good money-changers" inasmuch as in the Scriptures 
there are some true sayings, and some spurious. And 
to those who err by reason of false Scriptures, he fitly 
showed the cause of their error, saying, " Te do there- 
fore err, not knowing the true things of the Scriptures ; 
for this reason ye are ignorant also of the power of 
God." 

These two quotations from the sayings of Jesus occur 
three times in the " Homilies." The first — " Be ye good 
money-changers " — is supposed to be taken from an Apoc- 
ryphal Gospel. The second is alleged to be a corruption 
of Matt, xxii, 29, and Mark xii, 24, which do not contain 
the italicized words. But it is far more probable that the 
passage in our Gospels is a corruption from an earlier 
Gospel, because out of more than a hundred quotations 



290 STORY OF CLEMENT OF EOME, 

in the "Homilies," only four brief and fragmentary phrases 
really agree with parallels in our Gospels ; all the rest 
without exception systematically vary, and several have 
no parallels in our Gospels at all. (Sup. Eel., vol. ii, 
page 32.) 

Clement was charmed with Peter's exposition. It was 
indeed "a short method with Deists." And now to make 
his position still plainer, Peter added that he did not be- 
lieve Adam was a transgressor, nor Noah drunken, nor 
Abraham and Jacob polygamists, nor Moses a murderer 
or a pupil of an idolatrous priest. 

Oh! Peter, Peter! The InfideHty of Paine and Vol- 
taire was mild compared with yours. 

On the morning of the day fixed for the discussion, 
Peter aroused his attendants about the second cock- 
crowing, (an ever-significant reminder to him,) and by 
the light of the lamp which was still burning, kneeled in 
prayer, after which he informed them that Simon intended 
to show from the Scriptures that the Creator of the world 
(^. e., the Jewish Deity) was not the Supreme God, but 
there was another unknown Supreme Being who had sent 
forth two Gods, one of whom made the world, and the 
other gave the law. Peter was very sorry that Simon 
should thus nulhfy the doctrine of the one God, and 
give countenance to polytheism. Simon was coming to 
battle armed with the false chapters of the Bible. But 
let them not be alarmed : even the falsehoods of Scrip- 
ture are permitted for a righteous purpose. For it is not 
lawful to afford salvation to those who are like irrational 
animals. God saves only those who know him, even 
though for a time through ignorance they have sinned 
against him and even denied him. But the impenitent 
shall be destroyed by fire, even though in all other things 
they are most holy. At the appointed time " a fifth part " 



THE SUCCESSOK OF. ST. PETER. 291 

(Of " the greater part," according to another reading) shall 
be punished with eternal fire. 

Peter continued his discourse to his attendants until 
Zaccheus came in and announced that Simon was out- 
side, attended by a great crowd. Then, after imploring 
divine help, he went out to meet his adversary. There 
stood Simon like a war chieftain attended by his spear- 
men. The multitude were eager to witness the encoun- 
ter. Peter began with an invocation of peace to all who 
were ready to receive the truth through God's infallible 
Prophet, but warning those who rejected it that it would 
be more tolerable in the day of judgment to dwell in the 
land of Sodom and Gomorrha than in the place of unbe- 
lief. Thus he went on haranguing until having asserted 
that there was but one God, and if any one should dare 
to declare any other he would be eternally damned, Simon 
broke out after this manner : 

' ' Why would you lie and deceive the unlearned multitude stand- 
ing around you, persuading them that it is unlawful to think that 
there are Gods, and to call them so, when the books that are cur- 
rent among the Jews say that there are many Gods ?" 

Simon then proceeded to maintain by many quotations 
from the Scriptures the doctrine of a plurality of Gods, 
and that the Jewish God was not the Supreme Being, 
but was without foreknowledge, subject to passions and 
otherwise imperfect; whence it must follow that there 
was another good and perfect God. 

The rest of the controversy we will present in an 
abridged dialogue, as follows : 

Peter. — Does he who is evil love to accuse himself ? 

Simon. — He does not. 

P. — How then can God be the author of these things 
which are written against him ? 



292 a STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

S. — It may be they are written by another power, not 
according to his choice. 

P. — Then if another has accused him, that is a proper 
subject of investigation. 

S. — You want to avoid discussing the charges against 
your God. 

P. — You yourself are avoiding the order of inquiry. 

S. — First confess that if the things written against the 
Creator are true, then he is not supreme nor good. 

P. — If they are true they do not show that God is 
wicked. 

S.— How so ? 

P. — Because they are opposite and contradictory; 
wherefore neither can be confirmed. 

S. — How then is the truth of the Scriptures to be 
ascertained ? 

P. — Whatever is in harmony with the creation is true ; 
whatever is not is false. 

S. — How can you show that the Scriptures contradict 
themselves ? 

P. — You say Adam was created blind. Not so. God 
would not have pointed out the tree of knowledge of good 
and evil to a blind man, and commanded him not to 
taste it. 

S. — He was mentally blind. 

P. — How could he be mentally blind when before 
tasting the tree he gave appropriate names to all the 
animals ? 

S. — If Adam had foreknowledge, why did he not know 
that the serpent would deceive his wife ? 

P. — If he had not foreknowledge, how came he to name 
his sons with reference to their future doings, calling his 
eldest Cain, i. 6., "envy," and his second Abel, i. e., 
^' grief?" [Not in Hebrew or Greek.] Therefore if 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETEK. 293 

Adam had " foreknowledge," much more the God who 
created him. And it is false to say that God tempted 
Abraham in order that he might know if he would endure 
it, or that God wanted to go down in order that he 
might see and know. Surely in giving foreknowledge to 
Abraham concerning the enslavement of his posterity in 
Egypt, and to Moses concerning the dispersion of the 
Jews, God himself had that foreknowledge. And it is 
extravagant to say that God repented. Things fore- 
known come to pass without repentance. Nor did God 
ordain or approve beastly sacrifices. On the contrary, 
those who in the wilderness lusted after flesh were slain 
as soon as they tasted it, showing that he abhorred the 
slaughter of animals. And how can he who created a 
pure heaven and a shining sun be said to abide in dark- 
ness, smoke, and storm ? Such accusations, being con- 
trary to God's handy-work, were not written by a pro- 
phetic hand. 

S. — How can you show this 1 

P. — The law of God was given by Moses without writ- 
ing to seventy wise men to be handed down. But after 
Moses was taken up some one wrote about his death and 
burial. Then about 500 [827] years after Moses the 
iDOok of the law was found in the temple, (2 Kings, xxii, 
8,) and about 500 [36] years later the temple was burnt 
by Nebuchadnezzar, (2 Kings, xxv, 9,) and the law was 
destroyed. Thus it was often lost. Moses foreseeing 
this did not write it, but those who did write it, not fore- 
seeing its loss, were not prophets. 

S. — How then are we to know what things are true 
from the traditions of Moses ? 

P. — A certain verse in the law is without controversy, 
and is written there to show clearly what things are true 
and what false. 



294 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, . 

S. — What verse is that ? 

P. — It is this : "A ruler shall not fail from Judah nor 
a leader from his loins until he tjome whose it is, and h& 
is the expectation of the nations." Now if any one can 
apprehend him who came in fulfilment of this prophecy, 
and recognizing him will believe his teaching, he will 
know what of the Scriptures are true and what false. 

S. — You mean Jesus. Well, how did he teach you to 
discriminate the Scriptures ? 

P. — He said to the Sadducees, " Wherefore ye do err^ 
not knowing the true thiiigs of the Scriptures ; and oi% 
this account ye are ignorant of the power of God." So 
also he said, ^^ Be ye prudent money-changers/' and 
again, " Wherefore do ye not perceive that which is rea- 
sonable in the Scriptures." 

Thus Peter continued to quote and expound sayings 
of Christ, all at variance with and some not found in our 
Gospels. The discussion lasted three days, but Clement's 
report of it makes less than a dozen pages. On the fourth 
day Simon arose before dawn and departed for Tyre. 
Clement says he quit because Peter was driving him to 
use the Scriptures as Jesus taught — that is, discrimi- 
nating the genuine from the spurious. No wonder he got 
disgusted. 

A few days later a report came that Simon was working 
miracles at Tyre and slandering Peter. Peter resolved 
to follow him up as soon as he could finish his work in 
Cesarea. Accordingly he proceeded to ordain Zaccheus^ 
forcing him to sit down in the chair. Zaccheus was will- 
ing to perform the duties, but begged to decline the titl-e 
of " Buler." " Then be called 'the appointed one,'" said 
Peter. " You are not to govern as a ruler of the nations,, 
but as a ministering servant. You are the proper person 
to fill my place, for you associated with the Lord, wit- 



THE SUC<atSSSOK OF ST. PETER. 295 

nessed his marvellous doings, and learned the adminis- 
tration of the church." With more instructions of a like 
nature, Peter pronounced a benediction on Bishop Zac- 
cheus of Cesarea. 

Peter, however, remained ten days longer for the pur- 
pose of instructing and baptizing converts. But seven 
days before he left he sent Clement, Aquila, and Nicetas 
on to Tyre, telling them to lodge secretly with Bernice, 
the daughter of Justa, foster mother of Aquila and Ni- 
cetas, and write to him what they could learn about 
Simon. 

Clement, Aquila, and Nicetas, on reaching Tyre, were 
joyfully welcomed by Bernice, the foster sister of the two 
latter. She informed them that Simon boasted that he 
had been victorious in his controversy with Peter, whom 
he charged with being a magician and a deceiver — just 
what he was himself. He was astonishing the whole city 
every day by making statues move and spectres appear, 
which he said were the souls of the dead. He had slain 
an ox and given a banquet, and those who ate had been 
infected with diseases and demons. In short, he was 
worshipped as a God. 

The morning after their arrival Simon set sail for Si- 
don, leaving behind his disciples, Appion, a grammarian, 
Annubion, an astrologer, and Athenodorus, an Epicurean ; 
and it so happened that as Clement and his two compan- 
ions went out for a walk they met these three men in 
company with about thirty more. Appion, being an old 
acquaintance of Clement, saluted him and then intro- 
duced him to his companions with a flattering compli- 
ment to his scholarship and noble birth, being related to 
the family of Tiberius Cesar, but as one who had been 
seduced by a certain barbarian called Peter. Then he 
asked Clement if he did not feel guilty of impiety in for- 



296 STORY OF CLEMENT OF EOME, 

saking the religion of his father. Clement was ready to 
defend himself, but not right there before the multitude. 
So the party withdrew to a rich man's garden, and there 
Clement explained at length his change of views, saying 
that he had found the truth in the law of the Jews, and 
their doctrine of one God, the Father and Creator, and 
that the Gods of the Greeks were guilty of all manner of 
wickedness. 

Appion proposed to answer Clement's argument the 
next day, in the same place. So the next morning Clem- 
ent went there and found the party assembled, but Ap- 
pion was not there, being reported to be unwell. Clement 
proposed to visit him, but they begged him first to give 
them a discourse. So he entertained them with narrating 
a trick he had played on Appion in Kome, as follows : 

Through distress of mind, in attempting to solve the 
problems of life and immortality, Clement had fallen sick. 
While confined to his bed Appion came to Eome, and 
having been his father's friend, lodged with Clement. 
Finding him ill he asked if he could do anything for 
him. Clement being aware that Appion had written 
many books against the Jews, and had formed a friend- 
ship with Simon Magus, feigned to be love-sick. Appion 
having learned magic from an Egyptian, said he could 
put Clement in possession of his mistress in seven days. 
Clement did not believe in magic — he had been deceived 
too often, and he was afraid of demons. Unable to over- 
come his scruples, Appion, as a last resort, proposed to 
win the young lady over by writing an essay on free-love. 
To this Clement assented. So Appion prepared an elab- 
orate argument, based upon the example of the Gods, 
whose amours he discussed in a manner that would offend 
a harlot. This paper Clement happened to have with 
him now, and he read it as a part of the story. 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 297 

The trick played on Appion was this : Clement pre- 
tended to send the paper to his lady-love, and to get an 
answer from her ; but the answer was written by him- 
self. It was a very cogent argument in favor of chastity, 
such as only a strong-minded woman could compose, but 
too gross for publication except in the "Ante-Nicene 
Christian Library." It was artfully devised so as to 
touch Appion's prejudices against the Jews, by intimat- 
ing that the writer had gotten some of her ideas from a 
Jew. 

When Clement read the answer to Appion the latter 
said : " Is it without reason that I hate the Jews ? Here 
now some Jew has fallen in with her and converted her to 
his religion." Then Clement confessed his trick, and 
added that he was not in love at all, but that he had a 
leaning toward the Jewish doctrine of the unity of God. 
Appion forthwith quitted Rome in chagrin, and Clement 
had not met him till now. 

The party now accompanied Clement to call on Appion. 
They found him sitting up, and he promised to meet them 
the next day. Accordingly he appeared at the appointed 
time and place. Having heard what Clement had been 
telling about him, he began by explaining that when he 
wrote that essay on the amours of the Gods he was not 
in earnest, and Clement ought to have known that he was 
concealing the truth in his love for him. That truth he 
now proceeded to expound. In substance it was, that the 
abominable stories concerning the Gods were all allegories, 
with not a particle of literal truth in them. In maintain- 
ing this interpretation he appealed to Homer and Hesiod 
and explained the meaning of the various fables of the 
Gods. But in the midst of his discourse, seeing Clement 
apparently inattentive, Appion said it was useless to talk 
if Clement did not listen. The latter replied that the 



298 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

subject was entirely familiar to him, and to prove it he 
took it up himself and gave as good an exposition of it as 
Appion could, but followed it up with an argument to this 
effect : Either these filthy stories are real crimes of the 
Gods, or things falsely attributed to them. If crimes, they 
ought to be exposed to contempt ; if riddles, then those 
who invented them dishonor the Gods under the pretext 
of teaching truths. And after all, of what use was that 
kind of teaching ? The few who by much toil came ta 
understand the riddles, only obtained the privilege of not 
being deceived. This they could do without all that toil. 
The Gods were probably only deified wicked men and 
magicians. For in the Caucasian mountains there is 
shown the tomb of Kronos, who devoured his childi'en ; 
in Crete the tomb of his son Zeus, who was even more 
wicked than his father; in Mesopotamia the tomb of 
Helios; in Egypt that of Hermes; in Thrace that of Ares; 
in Cyprus that of Aphrodite ; in Epidaurus that of Escu- 
lapius. And even now in Egypt a man while living is 
worshipped as a God, and not only men, but beasts and 
creeping things. 

While Clement was saying these things Peter arrived, 
and the people flocked to meet him, including all the 
present party except Appion, Annubion, and Athenodorus. 
Clement conducted Peter to the inn and told him all 
about Simon and where he had gone. Some had followed 
him to Sidon to get cured, but he had heard that none of 
them were benefited. 

Peter spent a few days in Tyre, preaching and healing. 
Then he founded a church, ordained a Bishop, and de- 
parted for Sidon. Simon, hearing that Peter was coming, 
fled with Appion and his friends to Beyrout. At Sidon 
Peter repeated the same programme as at Tyre. Then he 
went on to Beyrout. No sooner did he arrive than there 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 299 

was an earthquake. The people ran to Peter for help. 
Simon and his companions warned them, saying, " Flee^ 
friends, from this man. He is a magician ; trust us. He 
it was who caused this earthquake." Peter adroitly re- 
plied, " Friends, I admit that I can do, God willing, what 
these men say ; and more than that, I am ready, if you do 
not believe what I say, to overturn your city." This was 
enough ; the frightened populace cleaved to Peter. Then 
he told them to have nothing to do with these sorcerers ; 
so they took up clubs and drove Simon and his compan- 
ions out of town. Peter remained a few days, founded a 
church, and went to Byblus. There he learned that Simon 
had gone to Tripolis. So after stopping a few days he 
followed after Simon. People from Tyre, Sidon, Beyrouth 
and Byblus accompanied him. A delegation from Trip- 
olis met them in the suburbs. Peter and his sixteen 
companions were entertained at the house of Maroones j 
the rest of the party were the guests of various people of 
the town. 

Having taken a sea bath and supper, Peter retired to 
rest. At the second cock-crowing (as usual) he awoke. 
He soon learned that Simon had set off for Syria in the 
night. But the people expecting to hear a theological 
discussion, soon began to crowd around Peter's quarters, 
Maroones conducted Peter into a garden-plot, where, 
standing upon the base of a statue, he addressed the 
crowd at great length, first, however, commanding the 
demons which tormented many of his hearers to hold 
their peace until his discourse was ended, when he would 
heal the afflicted — which he did. 

Peter continued at Tripolis four days, and a pretty full 
report of his sermons each day is given. We will notice 
only a few prominent points : 

1. The fall of man was caused by luxury and indo- 



300 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

lence. The lower class of angels asked and obtained 
leave of God to mix in among men and punish them for 
their ingratitude. Assuming the form of earthly things, 
animate and inanimate, they exposed the guilt of mankind. 
Then assuming the nature of men for a like purpose, the 
angels themselves got corrupted and could not return to 
righteousness. . Their besetting temptation was free-love, 
and this caused their fall. The product of angelic and 
human amalgamation was a race of dragon-footed giants, 
who waged war against God. He having only provided 
for the race of man on earth, and not for these greedy 
monsters,'' rained manna for their food, lest the pangs of 
hunger should drive them to eat flesh and devour all the 
animals. But on account of their bastard nature the 
giants longed only for the taste of blood, wherefore they 
first tasted flesh and mankind followed their example- 
Thus both giants and men became carnivorous, and the 
next step was cannibalism. The consequence was defile- 
ment, disease, and premature death. Things went from 
bad to worse, till God had to destroy mankind and purify 
the earth by a deluge. 

2. One of the descendants of Ham, Nebrod, (Nimrod,) 
was a magician. Inheriting a trace of the bad blood of 
the extinct giants, he became very wicked. But in his 
vaulting ambition he went a little too far. The demon 
that he evoked killed him by a stroke of lightning. 
Therefore Nebrod's name was changed to Zoroaster, on 
account of the living (zosan) stream of the star (asteros) 
that was poured upon him. (This is the Greek of it, and 
Peter, though an illiterate Galilean barbarian, was master 
of the Greek, you know ; for though his vernacular was 
Syriac, he had assumed a Greek name.) The benighted 
Persians thinking that God so loved Nebrod that he sent 
a stroke of lightning to take away his soul, honored him 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 301 

with a tomb in the shape of a temple built on the spot 
where he died. Hence the origin of fire-worship. 

3. God requires not only faith but baptism. He who 
will not submit to it, though he be ever so pious, cannot 
be saved from everlasting fire. Therefore Peter besought 
both the righteous and the unrighteous to come and be 
baptized, the latter to live a Godly life after being bom 
again of water. 

The three months of Clement's probation having now 
expired, he was baptized in a fountain near the sea. The 
inconsistency of urging the multitude to be baptized 
without delay, and of postponing Clement's baptism three 
months, needs explanation. Peter then addressed the 
elders and all the church after this manner : 

Our Lord declared that the Wicked one, after disputing 
with him forty days without success, promised to send 
Apostles from among his subjects to deceive. (Query. 
Where ?) Wherefore shun that Apostle or prophet who 
does not conform his preaching to that of James, who 
was called the brother of my Lord, and to whom was en- 
trusted the administration of the church of the Hebrews 
in Jerusalem. " This Simon is one of those Satanic Apos- 
tles, who comes in sheep's clothing, but inwardly is a rav- 
ening wolf. 

Peter then baptized a multitude, celebrated the eu- 
charist, ordained his host Maroones as Bishop, set apart 
twelve elders, designated deacons, and departed with a 
numerous escort for Antioch. 

On the route to Antioch the party stopped one day at 
Orthasia and another at Antaradus. Then Peter sent 
Aquila and Nicetas on to prepare the way for him at 
Laodicea. After they had gone, Clement besought Peter 
to be allowed to become his servant. Peter smiled, and 
for once indulged in a joke. A servant for what ? To 



302 STORY OF CLEMENT OF EOME, 

take care of his tunics, rings and sandals, to cook and 
prepare various dainty dishes ? Why, he only ate bread 
and olives — rarely pot-herbs — and the one cloak he had 
on was all he owned. He and his brother Andrew were 
orphans who had to struggle through poverty and misfor- 
tune. Therefore, he would reverse the proposal, and be- 
come a servant to Clement. 

This touched the tender-hearted Clement to tears. It 
was too great a condescension for the herald of God. 
But Peter insisted that it was only following out his 
Lord's commands, and Clement could only answer by 
saying that he was an orphan and wanted to look up to 
Peter as a father. This led to an inquiry into Clement's 
history, which he related as follows : 

Clement's father's name was Faustin, and his mother's 
Mattidin. Faustin was foster-brother to Cesar, and 
Mattidin was also related to the emperor. Their first 
two children were twin boys, Faustinus and Faiistianus ; 
then came Clement. Some time after his birth, (in the 
*'Kecognitions" it is five years,) his mother told her hus- 
band that she had had a vision warning her that unless 
she straightway took herself and her twin sons away from 
Rome and remained away twelve years, they must all die 
a miserable death. The father loved his children dearly, 
but was persuaded to send wife and twins away to Athens, 
little Clement being kept at home. After a year he sent 
money to his wife, but the messengers who took it did 
not return, and no tidings came from wife or children. 
After four years he resolved to go himself in search of 
them, and placing Clement under guardians he set out at 
sea: But alas ! Clement never heard from him again. It 
was now the 20th year since his departure, and Clement 
was twelve years old when his father left. 



THE SUCCESSOK OF ST. PETER. 303 

That makes Clement's age 31 or 32, and the time is but 
a few months after the crucifixion. 

Peter wept. " If a worshipper of God," said he, " had 
suffered such an affliction, he would have assigned the 
cause of it to the Wicked one. It is the lot of the 
wretched Gentiles thus to suffer, without the comfort 
which the worshippers of God have, who by their afflic- 
tions expiate transgression." 

An invitation now came to Peter and his companions 
to go the next morning to the island of Aradus, three 
miles distant, to see two great pillars of vine-wood and 
some works of Phidias. They accordingly went. On 
reaching the island, Peter not being attracted by the 
sights, turned his attention another way and met a woman 
begging. Questioning her he learned that her hands 
were disabled by her constant gnawing of them in her 
bitter anguish, and that but for lack of courage she would 
have ended her suffering by suicide. He asked if she 
hoped to escape worse suffering in Hades. She said she 
would willingly go to Hades if she could for one hour 
see her long lost sons. Peter suggested that he could 
give her a drug that would kill her without pain, and 
offered to do it if she would tell him what grieved her. 
The woman accepted the offer and said : 

I am of noble birth, and became the wife of a man 
related to another man in authority. I first had twin 
sons, and then another son. My husband's brother was 
madly in love with me. In order to avoid him and all 
consequent trouble, I thought it best to leave the city 
with my twin boys. So for a plausible excuse I fabricated 
a dream warning me to depart, or a miserable death 
awaited us all. I told the false dream to my husband, 
and he being alarmed sent me and my two sons, with 
servants and money, to Athens, there to remain until the 



304 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

oracle bade me return. We sailed, but were driven by- 
adverse V7inds and shipwrecked on this island. I was 
cast upon a rock, but all the rest on board perished. As 
the day dawned I sought in vain for the bodies of my 
sons. The inhabitants took pity on me, and a poor widow 
of a lost sailor took me into her cottage, where I have 
lived ever since. Together we worked for a livelihood, 
but soon I lost the use of my hands by continually gnaw- 
ing them, and now my companion is an invalid, so that 
begging is our only resource. Now give me the drug, 
and I will not only take it myself, but give it also to my 
companion, that we both may escape from this miserable 
life. 

At this moment Clement came up, but Peter sent him 
away to the boat. Then he promised to give her the drug 
if she would give him the names of herself, husband and 
children, and the city whence she came. But she, not 
wishing to reveal them, gave false names and equivocated, 
saying that she was an Ephesian, and her husband a Sili- 
cian. "Alas ! " said Peter, " I thought that this day was 
to bring you great joy. There is a young man with me 
from Eome who says he has lost father, mother, and twin 
brothers, and his story is like yours." The woman 
swooned. As soon as she revived she asked, " Where is 
this youth ? " Peter knowing that she had given false 
names, now required her to tell the truth. She said, " I 
am that youth's mother and his name is Clement." '' That 
was the man," said Peter, "who just spoke to me." The 
mother wanted to go straightway to her son, but Peter 
made her promise to keep quiet when she saw him until 
they left the island. Then he led her toward the boat. 
Clement met them and tendered his assistance. As she 
touched his hand she gave a scream ; and then calling him 
her son embraced and kissed him. He not understanding 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 305 

it shook her off, but only partially, out of respect to 
Peter. "Alas ! what are you doing ? " said Peter ; " shak- 
ing off your real mother ! " Then the son embraced and 
kissed his long lost mother, and a great commotion arose 
among the people at the extraordinary scene. 

The woman would not consent to leave the island with- 
out bidding farewell to her bedridden companion. So 
Peter ordered her to be brought on a couch, and when 
she came he cured her on the spot. Then Clement's 
mother asked him to heal her sore hands, and it was done. 
To the sailor's widow Clement gave a thousand drachmas 
and put her in care of the chief man of the city. The 
party then returned to Antaradus with Clement's mother. 
The rest of the day was spent in listening to a philosoph- 
ical lecture by Peter. 

The next chapter of our romance opens thus : 

*'N"owat break of day Peter entered and said: 'Clement and 
his mother Mattidia and ray wife must take their seats immediately 
on the wagon.'" 

Hitherto until the discovery of Clement's mother yes- 
terday, there has been no intimation of the presence of a 
woman in the party, much less of Mrs. Peter. Where, O 
where has she been during the three months past % Where 
indeed all the while since her mother was sick of a fever ? 
(Matt, viii, 14.) 

Well, the two women took their seats in the wagon 
with the rest of the party (which must have made a heavy 
load) and set out for Balanae. While on the road Mat- 
tidi<x (no longer Mattidi^) for the first time asked her 
son how his father was. She had waited a day before 
making that important inqi^^ry. Clement answered: 
"My father went in search of you and of my twin 
brothers and is nowhere to be found. But I fancy he 
must have died long ago, either perishing by shipwreck, 



306 STORY OF CLEMENT OF EOME, 

or losing his way, or wasted away by grief." At this his 
mother burst into tears. Why on earth hadn't she 
written to him at Rome during all the 24 years ? 

At Balanae the party stopped one night and then pro- 
ceeded to Paltus and Gabala, and on the following day 
reached Laodicea. There they were met by Aquila and 
Nicetas, and it being a populous place Peter proposed to 
stay several days. Aquila and Nicetas asked Clement 
who that strange woman was, and were told she was his 
mother. Then Peter told them the story of her discovery 
and how she had been shipwrecked with her twin chil- 
dren, Faustinus and Faustinianus. In great amazement 
they both exclaimed, "Is this true or is it a dream?" 
" Unless we are asleep," said Peter, " it certainly is true." 
Then after a meditative pause they said, " We are Faus- 
tinus and Faustinianus ;" and after a few further words 
of explanation both rushed in to see their mother. But 
finding her asleep Peter forbade them to wake her lest 
from sudden joy she might lose her reason. When she 
awoke Peter began to converse with her on religion and 
baptism, gradually leading on to the loss of her husband 
and sons ; and when she had expressed her grief not so 
much at their death as at the loss of their souls, the two 
sons unable to restrain themselves longer, clasped their 
long lost mother in their arms and showered upon her 
tears and kisses. " What is the meaning of this ?" said 
she. " Courage, O woman," said Peter ; " these are your 
sons." The mother fainted and almost died for joy. 
When she revived she asked her children what hap- 
pened to them after that disastrous night. Faustinus 
alias Nicetas told the story as follows : 

They were picked up by pirates in a boat, brought to 
Cesarea, there cruelly treated, starved, and compelled to 
answer only to new names, until at length they were sold 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 



307 



to a Jewess named Justa, who adopted them and edu- 
cated them in Greek learning. They were brought 
up along with one Simon, a magician, and came near 
being led away by him, but being warned by Zaccheus 
they had come to receive instruction of Peter and had 
become converted to his doctrines. 

Mattidia was now impatient to be baptized so that she 
could be allowed at once to sit at the same table with her 
sons ; but Peter required of her a fast of at least one day 
before baptism. The woman " swore " she had already 
fasted two days from excessive joy ; and Mrs. Peter con- 
firmed her statement " with an oath " — probably not a 
profane one such as her -husband used on a recent me- 
morable occasion. But Peter could not allow the two 
days' joyful fast to count, and therefore ordered her to 
prolong her fast one day more. 

The rest of the day was occupied by Peter in discours- 
ing on chastity and baptism. On the first question Mat- 
tidia was remarkably sound, as her whole life had shown. 
In regard to baptism Peter held that even if she had 
been drowned at sea, her dying on account of chastity 
would have made her watery grave a baptism for the sal- 
vation of her soul. By such sophistry he sought to evade 
the stultification of his reiterated dogma that an unbap- 
tized person cannot be saved ! 

The next morning Mattidia was baptized in a sheltered 
spot on the sea shore. Her three sons went down to the 
water with their mother and the household, but retired 
because of the women and took a bath. Then having re- 
turned they all went to a secret place and prayed, after 
which all but Peter returned to their lodgings. He re- 
mained away several hours, and when he came back he 
administered the eucharist to the mother and sons, taking 



308 STOKY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

care to put salt on the bread. Nothing is said about 
wine. Then he explained the cause of his delay. 

He said he was met on the shore by an old man in the 
garb of a workman, who had concealed himself and 
watched what they were doing, and out of pity for their 
folly said he felt impelled to come and tell them there 
was no God nor Providence, but that all things were 
subject to genesis — ^. 6., astrological destiny. Prayer 
was useless, for every one's destiny was fixed. Perhaps 
ft man in such miserable attire as he was would not be 
believed when he said that he was once wealthy and 
pious, sacrificing to the Gods and giving liberally to the 
poor, and yet he was not able to escape his destiny. 

Peter wanted to know what calamities he had endured,^ 
but the man wished to defer telling them until he had 
held an argument on the subject of genesis. So Peter 
opened on the negative, during which a crowd gathered 
around. While he did not profess to be able to refute 
genesis by science, he did aver that by prayer to God he 
could cure cases which the astrologers could not. There- 
fore it was blasphemy to say that all things are subject 
to genesis. 

The old man in reply was compelled to dissent because 
his own personal experience was in favor of genesis. For- ' 
merly he had been an astrologer, and dwelt at Kome. 
There he had ascertained the genesis of a friend and his 
wife, of the family of Cesar ; and now tracing their sub- 
sequent history, he found everything fulfilled in exact 
accordance with the genesis. The wife was to commit 
adultery with her slave, flee away with him, and perish 
at sea — which actually took place. 

Peter asked how he knew it came to pass. The man 
said he learned from the husband's brother that the wife 
and two sons were sent to Athens in consequence of a pre- 



THE SUCCESSOE OF ST. PETER. 309 

tended dream of hers, and that the youngest son remained ; 
but the husband not hearing any tidings of them for a 
long time, went in search of them, taking along with him 
as a companion the person now speaking. But not many 
days after landing at Seleucia the husband died of a broken 
heart. 

Peter wished to know the names of the deceased man, 
wife and children. The old man gave the names, to wit : 
Paustus, Mattidia, Faustinus, Faustinianus, and Clement. 
Without saying any more except a few words of sympa- 
thy, Peter hastened to bring the news to the wife and 
sons. i 

They all shed tears together. In the midst of their 
lamentations in came the old man, attracted by the cries, 
and gazing at Mattidia he said, " What do I see ?" Then 
taking a more careful look he suddenly embraced her, 
while she, recognizing him as her husband, returned his 
embrace with speechless joy. As soon as she could speak 
she said to him, " And these are our sons." 

The children fell upon their father's neck and kissed 
liim. 

It is said that they recognized him " in rather an indis- 
tinct way," and yet the twins must have been at least seven 
years old when they last saw him, and Clement was 
twelve when his father left Rome. 

Peter called Faustus (no longer Faustin) to account for 
deception in telling the story of another when he himself 
was the husband. Faustus said he did it because he was 
of the family of Cesar, and wanted to avoid discovery, for 
he had resolved never to return to his former state after 
such misfortunes. 

The explanation was satisfactory, but Peter wanted to 
know now if Faustus was in earnest in regard to his be- 
lief in genesis. Faustus confessed that he had been in 



310 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

earnest, having been initiated in the science of astrology 
by an Egyptian named Annubion who travelled with him. 
at first in search of his wife and sons. " Are you not 
now convinced," said Peter, " that your doctrine of gen- 
esis has no firm foundation V Faustus was compelled to 
admit that astrologers were sometimes mistaken — the 
result, perhaps, of ignorance ; but he thought it was a 
science, nevertheless. 

After some further words Clement spoke, saying that 
he understood the science well, and would like to discuss 
it with Annubion in presence of his father. Faustus 
inquired where Annubion was. Peter said he had learned 
that he was at Antioch with Simon, and when they reached 
there perhaps the discussion could take place. 

The next day, from early morning till evening, Peter 
instructed Faustus in presence of his family in the doc- 
trines of the true religion, but in order to give a fuller 
exposition of the doctrine of one God, he proposed to 
continue his discourse on the following day in public. 
Accordingly, at break of day, he went to the usual place. 
Just as he was about to begin speaking, a deacon came 
and announced that Simon had come from Antioch last 
evening, and hearing that Peter was going to speak on 
the unity of God, he was coming to listen. And hardly 
had the deacon spoken when Simon himself appeared, 
accompanied by Athenodorus and some other compan- 
ions. At once Simon challenged Peter to a discussion. 
He had heard about Faustus, and fearing that the old 
man was not well posted, he wanted to take up the gaunt- 
let on his behalf. Simon was considerably excited, and 
appealed abruptly to Faustus. The latter said he thought 
Simon was hardly in a fit temper for debate, but he ought 
not to feel any anxiety on behalf of one who was rather 
prepossessed in favor of the doctrine of many gods. So 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 311 

after Faustus had explained his position further, it was 
agreed that Peter and Simon should discuss the subject, 
Peter to open. 

The second discussion between Peter and Simon, 
briefly epitomized, is as follows : 

Peter. — I assert that there is one God, who made all 
things, and that it is wrong to say or think there is an- 
other. 

Simon. — But the Jewish Scriptures say there are many 
Gods. The Jewish God speaks of other Gods like unto 
himself, as when he says, "Behold, Adam is become as 
one of us." And the serpent said, " Ye shall be as 
Gods." We also read in the Scriptures that " Thou shalt 
not revile the Gods," and many more like passages. 

P. — The law says, " Behold the heaven of heavens is 
the Lord's thy God, and all that therein is," implying 
that if there are Gods they are under him. And again, 
" As I live, saith the Lord, there is no other God but 
me," and many more like passages. 

S. — I have undertaken to prove that you are wrong in 
saying we ought not to speak of many Gods. I have 
adduced many passages from the Scriptures to show that 
they themselves speak of many Gods. 

P. — But l^he Scriptures say, " The names of other 
Gods shall not ascend upon thy lips." 

S. — And the Scriptures also say, " Thou shalt not re- 
vile the Gods." Do you not sin, therefore, in speaking 
against the Gods ? 

P. — Not in pointing out their destruction ; for it is 
written, " Let the Gods who did not make the heavens 
and the earth perish." And again, " The heavens them- 
selves shall perish, but Thou shalt remain ;" that is, the 
one God, the Creator. 

S. — Since then the Scriptures say at one time there are 



312 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

many Gods, and at another there is but one ; and some- 
times that they ought not to be reviled, and at other 
times that they ought, do not the Scriptures themselves 
lead us astray ? 

P. — They do not, but they bring to light the lurking 
evil disposition against God. Each one finds in the 
Bible whatever opinion he wishes to have in regard to 
God. You mould from it the idea of many Gods, I of 
one. The human soul is clothed with the image of God 
for immortality, and if I abandon the parent of my soul 
he will abandon me to just judgment. If there be an- 
other God, let him put on another shape that I may 
recognize him. But he is a nonentity, except in the 
opinion of Simon. 

S. — There are evidently two Creators, for the Scrip- 
ture says, "And God said, Let us make man." 

P. — That is, God said it to his Wisdom, as to his own 
Spirit or himself. 

S. — ^But do not the Scriptures say there are other 
Gods'? 

P. — ^If they do, it is to try those who hear, as when it 
is written, " If there arise among you a prophet, giving 
signs and wonders .... and he say to thee. Let us go 

after and worship other Gods let thy hands be the 

first to stone him .... Thou shalt know that he who tried 
thee, tried thee to see if thoa dost fear the Lord thy 
God." 

S. — By that rule your own Teacher was with reason 
cut off. 

P. — Our Lord asserted no God but the Creator ; he 
did not proclaim himself to be God, only the Son of 
God. 

S. — Does it not seem to you that he who comes from 
God is God? 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 313 

P. — It does not. What is begotten cannot be com- 
pared with the unbegotten or self-begotten. 

S. — Is it not the same on account of its origin I 

P. — That which is not ahke in all respects cannot be 
called the same. The human soul came forth from God ; 
it is the breath of God. Man is of the same substance as 
God, but men are not Gods. If you maintain that they 
are, then why not call Christ God ? We recognize an 
unbounded God; there cannot be another unbounded 
Being, another God most high. 

S. — Is "God" his ineffable name, which cannot be 
given to another ? 

P. — It is not — only a name given by agreement. It is 
the forerunner of the ineffable name. 

S. — Do you really believe that the shape of man is 
moulded after the shape of God ? 

P.— I do. 

S. — How then can death dissolve 'the body 1 

P. — ^When the body acts unjustly, the form of the just 
God takes its fligllt, and the body is dissolved. 

S. — What necessity was there to give such a shape to 
man, who was formed on earth ? 

P. — It was done because of the love of God. All 
things superior to the flesh of man — sun, moon, stars, 
air, fire, water — minister to man. Behold in this the 
character of that God to whom you wish to persuade us 
to be ungrateful — against whom you have dared to be 
impious. You were the first to utter these impieties. 
And yet the earth continues to bear you ; it opens not to 
swallow you, and fire from Heaven is not sent down to 
devour you. 

S. — Since you cunningly hint that what is written in 
the Bible is not true, to-morrow I will show from the dis- 



314 



STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 



courses of 3'our Teacher that he asserted that the Creator 
of the world is not the highest God. 

Saying this, Simon departed. Then the people mur- 
mured, saying, " Why should he be permitted to come 
here and utter blasphemies against God 1 " Peter an- 
swered, " Would that they went no further than Simon. 
For there will be, as the Lord said, false apostles, false 
prophets, and heretics, and, as I conjecture, they find their 
beginning in Simon." Peter said this with tears, and 
having dismissed the multitude with groans, he went to 
bed without his supper. 

The next morning Peter " rose earlier than usual," (that 
is, before cock-crowing,) and prayed. When he ceased, 
Zaccheus came in and told him that Simon was without, 
discoursing with about thirty of his disciples. Peter pro- 
posed to let him talk on till the people assembled, and in 
order to be the better prepared to meet him, he sent Zac- 
cheus out to listen and report what Simon said. The 
report brought back by Zaccheus was in substance this : 

Simon accused Peter of being a magician, and in proof 
of it said that while Peter was speaking Simon did not 
hear a word he said. This experience was only in hear- 
ing Peter; therefore it was his magical spell. Under 
pretext of making men wise, Peter puts them under a 
spell and brings before their minds a God with a terrible 
shape. But if God has a figure he is limited. How, then, 
can he be greater than all ? Now the God who made 
the world was known to all the patriarchs. But Jesus 
had said, " No one knew the Father except the Son, as no 
one knoweth even the Son except the Father, and those to 
whom the Son may wish to reveal him." Only from the 
time of the Son's appearance could he reveal the unknown 
God. Therefore the Father was unknown to all who 
lived before the Son, and could not be he who was known 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 315 

to all. And Jesus was inconsistent with himself in at 
one time representing God as terrible and just, and at 
another as long-suffering and good. The two attributes 
are opposed to one another. And Peter in maintaining 
that natural sight is better than ecstatic vision is in error, 
not knowing that the first is human and the last divine. 

Peter being thus posted about Simon, prayed again 
for preparation, and then went out to meet him. His 
opening speech was to this effect : 

Our Lord Jesus Christ in the limited time assigned 
him for preaching did not employ it in arguments or in 
the solution of problems, but rather in stating his doc- 
trines to those who could understand him ; and whenever 
we, his disciples, did not understand him — which rarely 
happened — we inquired of him privately. He sent us 
forth to teach and baptize, knowing that we could supply 
the proofs. His first great commandment was, " Hear 
God and serve him only " — meaning the Father. Our God 
has shape — not for use, but solely for beauty's sake. He 
has eyes — not for sight, for he can see everywhere with- 
out them. He has ears — not for hearing, for he knows 
everything without it. He moulded man in his own im- 
age, therefore he who worships God honors man. 

But some will say, If God has a figure he is limited in 
space. What is space ? The space of God is the non- 
existent, but God is that which exists, and the non-exist- 
ent cannot be compared with the existent. Space is va- 
cuity, and vacuity is nothing. 

Some pretend to believe in a formless God. How can 
any one flee for refuge to such a Being ? These persons 
say we ought not to fear but to love God — that fear strikes 
death into the soul. I deny it. Fear awakens and con- 
verts the soul. As the water quenches fire, so does the 
fear of God extinguish the desire for evil. He who 



316 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

teaches fearlessness does not himself fear, and he who 
does not fear disbelieves in a judgment, strengthens his 
lusts, acts as a magician, and accuses others of the deeds 
which he himself does. 

Simon here called Peter to order for personality. He 
must keep to the question. Peter, because he saw and 
heard his Teacher, professed to understand his doctrines 
better than one who had a revelation of them by vision 
or apparition. On that point Simon took issue. He who 
hears has to consider whether what is said is right or 
wrong, while he who has an apparition is inspired, know- 
ing that it comes from God. Let Peter reply to this. 

Peter. — That is not the original question you pro- 
posed to argue, but I will discuss it. I maintain that he 
who trusts an apparition is insecure, because it may be 
an evil demon or lying spirit that appears. There is no 
reflective power in sleep. 

Simon. — Do God-sent visions speak falsely ? 

P. — No ; but how can any one know that his vision is 
God-sent ? 

S. — If the seer is just, his vision is true. 

P. — Eight ; but is he just who needs a vision to learn 
the truth ? 

S. — Surely an impious man does not see a true dream. 

P. — Not so. Many idolaters and adulterers have true 
visions and dreams. The impious Abimelech, moved by 
a wicked desire for Abraham's wife, was warned by God 
in his sleep not to touch her. Pharaoh had a dream 
which was interpreted by Joseph. That dream came 
from God. The tyrant Nebuchadnezzar saw in the fiery 
furnace the Son of God. To the pious man the truth 
comes naturally, not through dreams. Thus was the Son 
revealed to me when I said, " Thou art the Son of the 
living God." So God said to Aaron and Miriam, "If a 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 317 

prophet arise amongst you, I shall make myself known to 
him through visions and dreams, but not so as to my 
servant Moses, because I shall speak to him in an [out- 
ward] appearance, and not through dreams, just as one 
will speak to his own friend." You see how statements 
of wrath are made through visions and dreams, but state- 
ments to a friend are made face to face, and not in rid- 
dles, visions, and dreams, as to an enemy. If therefore 
our Jesus appeared and spoke to you in a vision, it was 
as one who is enraged with an adversary. If apparitions 
are all sufficient, then why did Jesus abide and discourse 
a whole year to those who were awake ? And how are 
we to believe your word when you tell us he appeared to 
you? Why should he do so to one who entertains 
opinions contrary to his teachings? But if you were 
thus taught by him and became his Apostle in a single 
hour — if you profess to love his Apostles and to interpret 
his sayings, do not contend with me who accompanied 
him. For you now stand in direct opposition to me, who 
am a firm rock, the foundation of the church. If you 
really wish to work in the cause of truth, come and work 
with us. 

S. — Far be it from me to be your disciple. Do not 
think I am ignorant of what I ought to know. I only 
wanted to test your ability to prove that actual sight is 
more distinct than apparition. You have failed. To- 
morrow I shall prove that the Creator of the world is not 
the highest God, and that he is not good. 

The third day's discussion began at daybreak, as be- 
fore, and was to this effect : 

S. — -You maintain that the Creator of the world is the 
same as the law-giver, and that the law-giver is just. 
But if he is just, how can he be good? And if he is not 
good, then Jesus proclaimed another God when he said, 



318 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

" Do not call me good, for one is good, the Father who 
is in the heavens." Now a law-giver cannot be both just 
and good, for these qualities do not harmonize. 

P. — Let us understand what is meant by good. The 
Creator is good when he gives sunlight and rain to the 
just and unjust. 

S. — Is it not wrong to give it to the unjust ? 

P. — What else could he do? By giving to all he 
gratifies the righteous, and is all the more long suffering 
to sinners, and in the last judgment he gives to each one 
what he deserves. Though justice and goodness are 
different, yet surely the same Being may be good in long 
suffering, and just in judgment. 

S. — It seems to me impossible for a law-giver to be 
both just and good. When your Teacher said, "No one 
has known the Father but the Son," he proclaimed a 
Father yet unrevealed, of whom the law speaks as the 
highest — a Father who gave to his own Son, called Lord, 
the Hebrews as his portion, defining him to be the God 
of Gods. From this Son of the Lord came forth the law 
of the Hebrews. Other nations took their laws from 
other so-called Gods. But no one knew the highest 
Father, just as they did not know that his Son was his 
Son. And you yourself, in assigning the special attri- 
butes of the unrevealed Most High to the Son, do not 
know that he is the Son, being the Father of Jesus, 
whom you call the Christ. 

P. — If you believe what you say, I will answer you. 
Otherwise you are talking nonsense and compel me to 
strike at empty air. 

S. — It is from some of your own disciples that I have 
heard this. 

P. — Do not falsify. 

S. — None of your insolence. 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 319 

P. — Unless you tell who said so, I say you are a liar. 

S. — Whether I heard these doctrines from others or 
not, if they cannot be overturned they are true. 

P. — Will you affirm that they are true ? 

S. — They seem so to me. 

P. — Then if it belongs to the Son to reveal his unre- 
vealed Father, you are impious in revealing him to those 
to whom he has not revealed him. 

S. — ^But he wishes me to do it. 

P. — When it is said the Son will reveal the Father to 
whomsoever he wishes, it means that such a one is to 
learn him not by instruction, but by revelation only. 
For a revelation is of something secretly veiled. But 
that person so receiving it cannot reveal it since he is not 
the Son, and therefore cannot know who are worthy of 
such a revelation. 

S. — ^Indeed, though I am not the Son, I do know those 
who are worthy. But what do you understand by the 
words, " He reveals him to whomsoever he wishes ? " 

P. — Evidently you do not understand it. Let me show 
it to you. Do you maintain that the Son is just or un- 
just? 

S. — He is most just. 

P. — Then why does he not make the revelation to all ? 

S. — ^Because he wishes to do it only to the worthy. 

P. — Must he not therefore know the mind of the wor- 
thy? 

S. — Of course he must. 

P. — See then why it has not been revealed to you : it 
is because you are not able to understand it. (Applause.) 

S. (blushing and rubbing his forehead.) — The people 
seem to think I am conquered. Not so ; the weakness 
of the defender is not decisive of the truth. I assure 
you I have judged all my hearers worthy to know the 



320 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

unrevealed Father, but because I do so you are envious 
and angry. 

P. — How do you know they are worthy when not one 
of them agrees with you, as they have shown by applaud- 
ing me. A just God would not have revealed himself 
through a robber, but through his own Son. 

S. — I shall now lay before you my real opinions. I 
maintain that there is some unrevealed power unknown 
to the Creator himself, even as Jesus has declared, though 
he did not know it, when he said, " No one knows the 
Father." 

P. — Do not profess any longer that you know his doc- 
trines. 

S. — I do not profess to believe them, but I am discuss- 
ing points in which he was by accident right. 

P. — I know your opinions well. You hold that two 
angels were sent forth, one to create the world and the 
other to give the law, and that each having done his work 
proclaimed himself the sole Creator. And you claim to 
be the " Standing One." And you hold that the unre- 
vealed Father is ignorant, and did not foreknow the in- 
gratitude of his angels. 

S. — Nonsense ! How dare you, most impudent man, 
reveal to the multitude these secret doctrines ? 

P. — Why do you grudge them the benefit ? 

S. — Do you allow that such knowledge is a benefit ? 

P. — I do, for the knowledge of false doctrine is bene- 
ficial. 

S. — How can you refute my proposition that your 
Teacher proclaimed a Father unrevealed? 

P. — The saying, "No one knows the Father," &c., ad- 
mits of many interpretations. It may apply to all the 
Jews who think that David is the Father of Christ, and 
do not know that Christ is the Son of God. Or, again, 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETEK. 321 

Christ being the Son from the beginning, was appointed 
to reveal the Father to the worthy patriarchs. But how 
impious is your position ! You make Jesus reveal to the 
unjust and unbelieving secrets which were withheld from 
the pious patriarchs. Such a position is befitting one 
who has come to hate the pious. 

S. (with vexation.) — Blame your own Teacher, who 
said, "I thank thee, Lord of Heaven and earth, that 
what was concealed from the wise thou hast revealed to 
sucking babes." (Matt, xi, 25.) 

P. — That does not point out another God, for the con- 
cealed things may be those of the Creator (Demiurge) 
himself. Isaiah [David] said, " I will belch forth things 
concealed from the foundation of the world." (Ps. Ixxviii, 
2.) How was the Creator ignorant of them if Isaiah (!) 
was not ? But our Lord did not use the words, " what 
was concealed," but " thou hast concealed," implying that 
the things were once known to the wise, but were now 
concealed from those who shut up the kingdom of heaven. 
When Isaiah says, " Israel hath not known me," he does 
not indicate another God who is unknown, but as a sin- 
ful nation they did not know him. Some sinned suppos- 
ing God, being good, would not punish them ; others 
falsely imputing wickedness to God, did what they sup- 
posed he did. As to such it might reasonably be said, 
" No one knoweth the Father but the Son," for had they 
known him they would not have sinned by trusting to 
these falsehoods written against God. Therefore said 
Jesus, " Ye do err, not knowing the true things of the 
Scriptures," and again, " Become experienced bankers ;" 
that is, to detect the spurious parts of Scripture. 

S. — So long as I did not know that you held these 
opinions in regard to the Scriptures, I endured you and 
discussed with you ; but now I retire. [Peter had avow- 



322 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

ed them in the former discussion.] Indeed, I ought to 
have withdrawn at first when you said you would believe 
no one who said anything against the Creator, or angels, 
or prophets, or Scriptures, or priests, even though he 
worked miracles. Holding such a position it is useless 
to argue with you. [Query, When did Peter so express 
himself?] 

P. — Hold on Simon — one word further. I shall not 
give up my God, however wicked you make him out to 
be. And if perchance there be another higher Being, he 
will welcome me all the more that I love my own heavenly 
Father. But you who have abandoned your own natural 
Creator, he will not welcome, because he knows you would 
one day abandon him. O ! Simon ! you are not aware 
that you are the servant of wickedness. 

S. — Whence then has evil arisen ? Tell us that. 

P. — Come to-morrow, Simon, and I will explain that. 

S. — I will do as I please. 

The discussion had lasted from daybreak till evening, 
and all of Simon's adherents were won over to Peter. 

Peter came forth earUer than usual the next morning 
(which means before daybreak) and found Simon with 
many others waiting for him. Saluting the multitude he 
began to speak, but was interrupted thus by — 

Simon. — Pass by your long introductions and answer 
me directly this question : Do you believe there is any 
Prince of evil or not ? 

Peter. — ^I certainly do, for my master said so repeat- 
edly. 

S.— How has he come into existence ? 

P. — ^I do not dajre affirm what has not been written. 
It is dangerous to discuss too daringly in regard to God. 

S. — ^Permit me to run the risk. You seek a pretext for 
avoiding the question, on the ground that the Scriptures 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. ' 323 

are silent. Scripture then aside, is not the Devil either 
originated or unoriginated ? 

P. — One or the other, of course. 

S. — Well, then, if he is originated, either the Creator 
made him, or he made himself, or he came by chance, or 
he is a mere relative thing, or he always existed. Now 
if the Creator made him he is to blame. 

P. — No ; his service might be an absolute necessity. 
But if he always existed it might be inconsistent with 
God's nature to kill him. If God has not the power to 
do it, but the will, he is nevertheless good. But a Being 
who is able, but does not do it because he takes pleasure 
in the Devil's deeds, is certainly wicked. A God willing 
but unable, is better than a God able but unwilling. 

S. — You are wrong wh«n you speak of your God as a 
loving Being. 

P. — But you, hating God whom you have not known, 
are a wicked blasphemer. 

S. — Do you liken me to the Author of evil ? 

P. — I am sorry to say I have found no one worse than 
you. You beat the Devil in daring to speak against God. 

S. — I can't spend all my time in praising that God 
whom I do not know. 

P. — You speak against God through ignorance and 
wickedness, with no fear of the judgment. 

S. — Don't imagine that you frighten me. For truth's 
sake I will not shrink from danger. Reply if you can to 
my propositions. If the Devil was begotten by God, his 
vices are God's vices. 

P. — Not at all ; many good fathers have wicked children. 

S. — ^You are foolish in taking human examples when 
discussing God. 

P. — The very term "begotten " is a human character- 
istic, and the qualities, good, evil, intelligence, life, all 



324 ' STOKY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

belong to man. All we have to do, then, is with God's 
will. 

S. — You will not force me to inquire into his will alone. 
Only the better attributes of man are the attributes of 
God. 

P. — Then God alone is the cause of all good things. 

S. — Consequently some other principle begot the Devil, 
or else he was unbegotten. 

P. — No other power begot him, nor is he " unbegotten." 
God produced four " substances," namely, heat and cold, 
moisture and dryness. Being simple and unmixed, their 
nature was indifference ; but being mixed they became a 
living being, possessing freedom of the will. In that 
way the Devil may be said to be begotten of God, but 
God is not the author of the evil volition. The evil being 
was not an accident — ^not a thing contrary to God's de- 
termination. If so, such beings might continually arise 
and war against God. 

S. — But what if matter, being coeval and coequal with 
God, produces his foes ? 

P. — If matter is eternal, it is the foe of no one, but is 
impassible and blessed. Does not matter love the Cre- 
ator when it nourishes all his creatures 1 And does it 
not fear him when it trembles, as in earthquakes ? 

S. — But what if matter, being lifeless, possesses a 
nature capable of producing both evil and good ? 

P. — Being lifeless and insensible, it is neither good nor 
evil — does not act by free choice. 

S. — But if God gave it life, is he not the cause of the 
evil it produces 1 

P. — The evils of which you speak — poisonous serpents, 
deadly plants, demons and what not — would not have 
been injurious had not men sinned, for which reason 
death came. But why, you will ask, was man created 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETEE. 325 

capable of death 1 It was because of free will ; for if we 
were not mortal we could not be punished for our volun- 
tary sin, and thus wickedness would still more prevail. jj 

S. — If God made the angels free agents, and the wicked 
one fell, why has the latter been honored with a post of 
command 1 Does not God thereby take pleasure in him ? 

P. — In ordering the Devil to punish sinners, God is 
not unjust. He perchance foresaw the Devil's usefulness 
in this regard. It is only a temporary honor anyhow. 

S. — Is not the sole government of God destroyed when , 

the power of matter rules along with him ? | 

P. — The superior rules the inferior; the Creator of j 

matter rules matter. 

S. — Is the Devil, then, a mere relation, and in this way 
wicked, as water is injurious to fire, but good for thirsty 
land, or as theft and murder are evil, but gratifying to 
the one who commits them ? 

P. — Self-restraint is a punishment, but not an evil. 
"We ought to deny ourselves short-lived pleasures that we 
may escape eternal punishment. 

S. — Who is to settle the question of what is good ? In 
Persia men marry their own mothers, sisters, and daugh- 
ters. 

P. — They are a mere fraction of mankind, and fail to 
see the iniquity of their abominable custom. That theft 
and murder are evil is shown by the fact that no one 
wishes to suffer them himself. Even if no one were ever 
to confess that sin exists, it is right to look forward to a 
judgment for sin. Our Lord explained to us privately 
these mysteries, but to such as you it would be impious 
to make known the hidden truth. But let me ask you, is 
evil the same as pain and death ? 

S. — It seems so. 



326 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

P. — Then it did not always exist. When man becomes 
immortal the reason of pain and death will appear. 

S. — ^But in this world do not lust, anger, grief, and the 
like, often cause disease and death 1 

P. — Yes, in consequence of ignorance and foolishness. 
But they are accidental and temporary, and work for 
good. At the beginning men lived long and had no dis- 
eases. 

S. — Does not the inequality of lot seem to you most 
unjust ? 

P. — You are digressing. But perfect piety could not 
exist were there no sick and needy. 

S. — Are not the poor and sick unfortunate ? 

P. — If their humiliation were eternal, their misfortune 
would be great. He who dislikes his lot can appeal. 

S. — What do you mean by that ? 

P. — That is another topic, but I can show you how, by 
being born again and living according to law you may 
obtain salvation. 

S. — Well, now, Peter, by questioning you on various 
topics, I have discovered the whole range of your igno- 
rance. Allow me now to retire for three days, and I will 
come back and show you that you know nothing. 

But before Simon retired, his old friend Faustus ad« 
dressed him, saying that he was now convinced that Peter 
was right. Indeed, Simon ought to feel ashamed, he was 
so badly defeated. Faustus did not believe Simon would 
return to the discussion. 

Simon hearing this gnashed his teeth with rage and 
went away in silence. But Peter received the congratu- 
lations of the multitude, and at the special request of his 
more intimate friends, promised to give them a private 
exposition of his own genuine belief in regard to eviL 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 327 

But as he was fatigued he would now retire to rest, and 
in the night rise and discourse to them. 

Accordingly, in the night Peter arose, wakened his 
companions, and explained his real views of the origin of 
evil, which he said he had already hinted at in his talk 
with Simon. God appointed the present world for the 
Evil one, because it was small and transient, but the 
world to come for the Good one, because it will be great 
and eternal. He made man free to obey or disobey, to 
choose the good or the evil. If he chooses the evil 
he becomes the servant of the Evil one, who rejoices 
in punishing him, thus accomplishing God's will. But 
the sinner may be saved by repentance, though he may 
have to undergo punishment for sins committed. So also 
the Devil, having served God blamelessly to the end of 
this present world, can become good by a change of com- 
position. For indeed he does not do evil, since he has 
received power to afflict lawfully. 

We ought not to attribute to God all the qualities of 
man. Man's body changes — God does not ; but see how 
he changes substances. By his incorporeal mind air is 
converted into dew, dew is thickened into water, water 
compacted becomes earth and stone, and stones by col- 
lision strike fire. So air ends by being converted into 
fire, and water becomes its opposite, fire. Much more 
can God convert himself into whatsoever he pleases. 

The Evil one was begotten by the combination of the 
fourfold substance created by God ; but the evil disposi- 
tion was not begotten by God nor by any one else. It 
was the accidental result of the combination. But the 
good one not being the result of accident, is really God's 
son. But as these doctrines are unwritten, and are con- 
firmed to us only by conjecture, let us by no means deem 
them absolutely certain. Nor do I state them to any but 



328 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

the most trustworthy after trial. And they are only to 
be reflected upon in silence, not rashly asserted, lest one 
should err and suffer punishment thereby. 

But some will ask, Why, if the Devil does no evil but 
accomplishes God'^ will, is he to be sent to hell with sin- 
ners 1 This is the answer : The Devil, having an evil 
disposition, delights to go down into darkness with his 
fellow-demons, for darkness is dear to fire. And only by 
being sent to hell can his evil disposition be changed by 
another combination into a disposition for good. The 
change of Aaron's rod into a serpent, and back again into 
a rod, foretells a future change in the disposition of the 
Devil. 

Question by Joseph : Why is it, Peter, that when you 
give the same discourse to all, some believe, and others 
do notl 

Peter. — Because my discourses are not charms, and 
men's wills are free. 

The midnight homily was here interrupted by the an- 
nouncement that Appion had come from Antioch with 
Annubion, and was lodging with Simon. Clement's 
father asked permission of Peter to go and salute his old 
friend Appion, and perchance he might persuade Annu- 
bion to discuss genesis with Clement. Peter allowed 
him to go. Then resuming his discourse he talked till 
daybreak, when Faustus returned, apologizing for staying 
away so long. But to the amazement of all except Peter, 
though it was the voice of Faustus he had the form of 
Simon. Faustus himself, unaware of the change, was 
astonished to see his sons fleeing from him. But Peter 
knew what was the matter : the form only, not the voice, 
could be affected by magic. To his pure eyes the form of 
Simon did not appear. 

And now came a messenger from Antioch who said that 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 329 

Simon had wrought up the people of that city to such 
hatred of Peter that it would be unsafe for him to go 
there till the excitement was over. Fortunately, Corne- 
lius of Cesarea, he who was cured of a demon by our 
Lord, arrived at Antioch on governmental business, and 
the brethren asked him secretly what to do. He devised 
a plan to drive Simon away by pretending to be in search 
of him, by order of the Emperor, to put him to death. 
Simon and his disciples hearing this, ran away. 

Peter saw through it all. Simon had changed the form 
of Faustus in order that the latter might be put to death 
in Simon's stead. Faustus was appalled. 

Soon Annubion entered and announced that Simon had 
fled to Judea. Annubion, seeing the distress of Faustus 
and his family, stood speechless. Peter comforted them 
with the promise that God would vouchsafe some occa- 
sion for restoring Faustus to his former shape. But he 
chided him with disobedience in associating with the 
magician, when he obtained leave only to see Appion and 
Annubion. Faustus confessed his fault, and Annubion 
begged Peter to forgive the unfortunate old man, who, 
after all, was not much to blame, for it happened in this 
way : When Faustus came to see them, Simon happened 
to be present, being about to run away to escape the de- 
tectives. Seeing Faustus he said to them, " Make him 
share your supper, and I will prepare an ointment for 
him to anoint his face, which will make him appear to 
have my shape. But I will anoint you with the juice of 
a plant, by which you will not be deceived by his new 
shape." The fear of Simon and the want of time pre- 
vented their revealing the plot to Faustus, though Annu- 
bion hinted to him Simon's design. But when the thing 
was done Annubion pretended to be sick, in order to in- 



330 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME, 

duce Faustus to go back to Peter without delay, hoping 
thus to get him out of harm's way. 

Peter now promised to restore Faustus on condition 
that he would follow his directions, namely : To take his 
wife and two elder sons and go to Antioch, where he would 
be recognized as Simon ; then to publicly proclaim that 
all that he (Simon) had said about Peter was false, and 
beg pardon for the hatred he had caused against the true 
Apostle of the true Prophet ; then to confess that he 
(Simon) was a magician and a deceiver, who hoped by 
repentance to wipe out his former sins ; then when the 
feeling of hatred against Peter had been replaced by a 
longing to hear him, to send for him immediately. 

Faustus's wife was loth to go with her husband lest she 
should seem to be Simon's concubine, but her scruples 
were overcome by Annubion, who promised himself to go 
with her. So they went. 

Early the following day, Appion and Athenodorus, who 
had conveyed Simon to Judea, returned to search for 
Faustus, and meeting Peter he invited them in. Having 
sat down they inquired, " Where is Faustus ?" " We 
don't know," said Peter, "for since the evening when 
he went to you he has not been seen by his kinsmen. 
But yesterday morning Simon came in search of him, 
and when we made no reply to him, something seemed 
to come over him, for he called himself Faustus ; but not 
being believed, he wept and lamented, and threatened ta 
kill himself, and then rushed out in the direction of the 
sea." 

This ingenious falsehood deceived the two men, and 
they were unable to conceal their chagrin. Appion was 
upon the point of saying " It was Faustus," when his 
companion quietly remarked that they had heard that 
Faustus had gone away with Simon, wishing to see his 



THE SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER. 331 

sons no more, since they had become Jews; and now 
since he was not here the rumor might be true. Clement 
coolly replied that if his father had seen fit to do so, his 
sons did not care for him. Hearing this the two men 
went away as if irritated at Clement's lack of filial love, 
and it was ascertained the next day that they followed 
Simon to Judea. 

Ten days passed. Faustus had fulfilled his mission at 
Antioch with such success that the people were ready to 
lay hands on him as the Samaritan impostor ; therefore 
he begged Peter to come at once if he wanted to see him 
alive. Accordingly Peter appointed a Bishop at Lao- 
dicea, and after three days spent in baptizing and heal- 
ing he hastened to Antioch. 

Here ends our story, as told in the "Homilies," but 
the " Kecognitions " add that Peter converted and bap- 
tized ten thousand men at Antioch, restored Faustus'^ 
form, and ordained Theophilus Bishop, whose episcopate 
began a. d. 168. 

Post-Preface. 

As a Preface is generally the last thing read, and often 
ought to come in at the end, we now append the Preface 
to our Romance. It is taken from a real preface to the 
" Homilies," consisting of two letters addressed to Bishop 
James, one written by Peter and the other by Clement. 

Peter addresses James as " the Lord and Bishop of the 
holy church," and begs him "not to communicate to any 
one of the Gentiles the books of my preachings which I 
sent you, nor to any one of our own tribe, before trial,'" 
but to commit them to the worthy ones, as " Moses de- 
livered his books to the seventy who succeeded to his 
chair." Peter is anxious that no one should teach "un- 
less he has first learned how the Scriptures must be used,"" 



332 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME. 

and is annoyed at some of the Gentiles who have rejected 
" my legal preaching " and followed " certain lawless and 
trifling preaching of the man who is my enemy " — mean- 
ing Simon Magus. Others, he says, have undertaken " to 
explain my words, which they have heard of me, more in- 
telligently than I who spoke them, telling their catechu- 
mens that this is my meaning, which indeed I never 
thought of." Therefore again he beseeches James not to 
communicate the books to any one until he has been tried 
and found worthy to be trusted with them. 

Following this letter is a report of its reception by 
James and his consequent action thereon. Calling his 
elders together he read the letter to them, and proceeded 
to carry out its object. The custody of Peter's books was 
to be committed only to one who is " circumcised and 
faithful," and to him not all at once, so that if he be found 
imprudent the rest might be withheld. His term of pro- 
bation was to be at least six years, after which he was to 
be initiated, as James had been, not by swearing, for that 
was " not lawful,'' (James v, 12,) but by standing by the 
water and repeating a form of adjuration, the main fea- 
tures of which are literally as follows : 

I take to witness heaveu, earth, water, and air, that I will always 
be obedient to him who gives me the books of the Preachings ; that 
I will not communicate them in any way, nor let any one see them, 
except him whom I shall ascertain to be worthy after a probation 
of not less than six years ; that if it should ever seem to me that 
the books are not true I will give them back and still keep this cov- 
enant ; that when I go abroad I will carry them with me, or such 
of them as I have, or will deposit them with my Bishop ; that even 
though I should come to the acknowledgment of another God, I 
now ««Jmr by him also [though swearing is "not lawful"] that I 
will keep this covenant ; and if I shall lie, I shall be accursed living 
and dying, and shall be punished with everlasting punishment. 

To the elders who heard this adjuration "in an agony 



POST-PREFACE. 333 

of terror," James explained that it was necessary thus to 
preserve the books from perversion and corruption by- 
daring men. 

The letter of Clement which follows is addressed " to 
James the Lord, and the Bishop of Bishops, who rules 
Jerusalem, the holy church of the Hebrews, and the 
churches everywhere." It recites that Simon, surnamed 
Peter by our Lord, was commanded to enlighten the 
darker part of the world, namely the West, and was en- 
abled to accomplish it, having come as far as Eome; 
that when he was about to die he suddenly seized Clem- 
ent's hand in the presence of the church, and praising 
him as most pious, pure and philanthropic, named him 
as the proper one to preside over the church. Clement 
begged to decline, but Peter pressed the office upon him 
with still greater praises of his fitness, and in a charge oi 
great length defined the duties of Bishop, of presbyters, 
deacons and catechists. Among other duties Peter en- 
joined that of " praying so as to be heard," and of hos- 
tility to the Bishop's enemies. 

Having ended his charge Peter laid his hands on 
Clement and compelled him to sit in his own chair, and 
then said : 

*' I entreat you, in the presence of all the brethren here, that 
whensoever I depart this life, as depart I must, you send to James 
the brother of the Lord a brief account of your reasonings from 
your boyhood, and how from the beginning until now you have 
journeyed with me, hearing the discourses preached by me in every 
city, and seeing my deeds. And then at the end you will not fail 
to inform him of the manner of my death, as I said before," 

In obedience therefore to this request Clement wrote 
and sent the books, inscribing them " Clement's Epitome 
of the Popular Sermons of Peter." But inasmuch as 
Pope Peter, according to tradition, survived Bishop 



334 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME. 

James at least four years, it would be fitter to name the 
work " Pseudo-Clement's Pious Frauds." Nay, more ; 
inasmuch as there never was nor could have been a Gali- 
lean Apostle Peter, the whole story of Clement is no 
truer than that of the Gospels. 

Variations of the Other Version. 

The story as told in the " Recognitions " differs from 
that of the " Homilies " in many important particulars, 
a few of which we will now point out. 

I. Clement was not driven by stress of weather to 
Alexandria. It was Barnabas himself who proclaimed to 
the people of Rome, " The Son of God is now in the 
regions of Judea." He sailed back directly to Cesarea 
and was followed in a few days by Clement, who reached 
there in fifteen days. 

II. Simon put off the discussion with Peter " seven 
days," or " till the eleventh of the month "—not " till to- 
morrow, to-day being his Sabbath, which occurs every 
eleventh day," as in the " Homilies." 

m. Peter's exposition of the faith to Clement takes a 
much wider range than in the " Homilies," and the 
points we deem most worthy of notice are these : 

1. The only diff'erence between the Jews and the disci- 
ples of Jesus is the belief that Jesus was the Prophet 
foretold by Moses. 

2. Seven years have elapsed since the death of Christ. 

3. James was ordained Bishop of Jerusalem by the 
Lord, i. e., his brother. 

4. The Sadducees took their rise just after the death 
of John the Baptist, the first of them being Dositheus, 
John's successor, and the second Simon Magus. 

5. The successor of Judas was " Barnabas, who is also 
called Matthias." In Acts i, 23-26, we read that Barsa- 



VARIATIONS OF THE OTHER VERSION. 335 

bas, alias Joseph, alias Justus, was counted out in the 
holy raffle, and Matthias without an alias won the 
bishopric. 

6. A long account is given of a discussion between the 
Jewish priests and the Apostles on the steps of the 
Temple, each of the twelve speaking in turn. Peter 
made the final speech, which enraged the priests, but the 
tumult was quieted by Gamaliel, who was secretly a dis- 
ciple. Through his artifice the next day the discussion 
was resumed by " Archbishop " James single handed, who 
kept it up for seven days, when it was suddenly ended 
by a riot headed by a so-called " enemy," who knocked 
James down the steps and left him for dead, but fortu- 
nately the prelate's principal injury was only a lame foot. 

7. This " enemy," though not named, answers to Saul, 
afterwards called Paul, who had been commissioned to 
arrest the disciples of Jesus by the chief priest Gaiaphas, 
the very person who had challenged the Apostles to this 
discussion. 

8. Before daylight the next morning the disciples to 
the number of 5,000 fied to Jericho, where, after staying 
three days, Gamaliel sent word secretly that the " enemy " 
was about to go to Damascus in quest of Peter. Thirty 
days later Saul was on his way, and passed through 
Jericho, but Peter happened just then to be out of town ; 
60 he providentially escaped the clutches of Paul. 

9. Archbishop James then sent for Peter, saying that 
Zaccheus had written from Cesarea that Simon was sub- 
verting many people, and claiming to be the Stans, that 
is, the Christ, therefore Peter must go without delay and 
confute the great fraud. 

10. Peter obeyed the summons, and in six days reached 
Cesarea ; the next day he received a challenge from Simon 
for a disputation. 



336 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME. 

11. The date of Saul's persecution is commonly fixed 
about A. D. 35-37, and this agrees with the prior state- 
ment of a lapse of seven years from the crucifixion, a. d^ 
29. But yet only about a month had elapsed since 
Clement heard Barnabas proclaim in Eome, " The Son of 
God is now in Judea." 

rV. The number of Peter's attendants is twelve, includ- 
ing Clement; in the "Homilies" it is sixteen without 
him. The names agree, except one, Nicodemus. 

V. Peter wishing to learn something about Simon's 
character, Niceta(s) and Aquila, who had been his disci- 
ples, narrated his history, differing in some points from 
that in the " Homilies," as for example : 

1. The number of members of the Society of John the 
Baptist was thirty men and one woman called Luna. In 
the " Homilies " the number is one less, and the woman's 
name is Helena. Query : If Selene (moon) was the Greek 
name, Luna would be the Latin translation. 

2. Simon was initiated after the death of John through 
the favor of Dositheus. He soon fell in love with Luna 
and sought to supplant Dositheus. Confiding to Niceta 
and Aquila his design he promised them the highest 
honors if they would aid him. He boasted to them of 
his magical powers, by which the glory of their sect 
would be established. In addition to the wonders men- 
tioned in the " Homilies " he could render himself invisi- 
ble, could fall headlong from lofty ledges without harm, 
could cause a beard to grow on little boys, could make 
trees grow and bear fruit at once, and could bore through 
rocks and mountains. Elect him chief and he would 
make and unmake kings, and be worshipped as God. 

3. Niceta and Aquila, though they knew that the pro- 
duction of sprouts and the boring of mountains were 
nothing new, having been done since the days of their 



VARIATIONS OF THE OTHER VERSION. 



337 



fathers, nevertheless connived at Simon's deception of 
others, and even told many lies themselves on his behalf. 
He then claimed to be the Starts or Standing one, and 
his dupes began to believe him to be God himself. But 
when Aquila and Niceta asked him to explain ' the magic 
art by which he conjured up the soul of a murdered boy, 
Simon avowed that he was no magician at all, but the son 
of a virgin, being conceived before his mother was mar- 
ried, and that he only pretended to be a man. Indeed 
he himself had formed a new human creature, a boy, and 
produced a much nobler work than God the Creator. 

VI. There is but one discussion between Peter and 
Simon, and it differs materially from the two reported in 
the "Homilies." We will notice only two or three 
points : 

1. Simon undertook to give an idea how it was possi- 
ble to know the unknown God, namely, by a reaching 
forth of the senses, as when one is in a revery and does 
not see things present. Peter replied that he once was 
in such a revery while at Capernaum on a rock fishing. 
He was so absorbed in thinking of Jerusalem, where he 
had often gone to make offerings and prayers, that he 
did not feel the fish bite. At the same time he was 
thinking of Cesarea, where he had never been. While in 
this revery his brother Andrew nudged him and told him 
what a big fish he had caught. Angry at having his 
revery disturbed Peter rebuked Andrew. But the latter 
in turn warned Peter against giving way to such moods, 
for they who did became possessed of demons and saw 
things that had no existence. And, indeed, so it proved 
in regard to Cesarea, which was not at all like what 
Peter's fancy pictured it. So doubtless it would be with 
Simon's heavenly visions — he only saw what he had seen 
on earth. 



338 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME. 

2. The discussion is more acrimonious than in the 
" Homilies." Simon denies the existence of evil and the 
soul's immortality. Peter calls him an infidel and a de- 
ceiver who had only asked questions for the sake of con- 
tradiction and had proved nothing. Simon being about 
to withdraw because Peter got angry, (though he said he 
only made believe angry,) Peter surprised him by charg- 
ing him with having in his bed-chamber the image of a 
murdered boy, and proposed to go with a committee of 
ten straight to Simon's house and see it. This caused 
Simon to grow pale, and fearing exposure he professed 
the most abject penitence and wanted to become Peter's 
pupil. But Peter having no faith in Simon's sincerity 
only reiterated the charge, saying that he had learned 
from Simon's former associates what he had been doing 
in secret. At this Simon became very angry, and throw- 
ing off all disguise he heaped curses on Peter and asserted 
his own miraculous power and divinity in this wise : 

"lam the first power, who am always and without beginning. 
But having entered the womb of Rachel, I was born of her as a 
man, that I might be visible to men. I have flown through the air ; I 
have been mixed with fire and been made one body with it ; I have 
made statues to move ; I have animated lifeless things ; I have made 
stones bread ; I have flown from mountain to mountain ; I have 
moved from place to place, upheld by angels' hands, and have 
lighted on the earth. Not only have I done these things, but even 
now I am able to do them, that by facts I may prove to all, that I 
am the Son of God, enduring to eternity, and that I can make those 
who believe on me endure in like manner forever. But your words 
are all vain ; nor can you perform any real works, as he also who 
sent you is a magician, who yet could not deliver himself from the 
suffering of the cross." 

Peter retorted that Simon was evidently only a ma- 
gician, and if he denied it let them all go to his house and 
see the proof for themselves. Boiling over with rage 
Simon continued to curse Peter until the people in indig- 



VARIATIONS OF THE OTHER VERSION. 339 

nation drove the blasphemer out of the court, and only 
one person followed him. 

3. In Peter's doctrine of pairs, the first being evil and 
the second good, he enumerates ten as in the other ver- 
sion ; but only four of them agree, and the only pair 
V7hich agrees both in order and name is the last, namely, 
Antichrist and Christ. 

VIL A deserter from Simon's camp announced that he 
had set out for Rome, where he predicted he would re- 
ceive divine honors and be reckoned a God. Thereupon 
Peter resolved to follow him, but for the sake of the 
brethren he would remain three months in Cesarea. And 
he did so remain, nor did he meet Simon again as re- 
ported in the " Homilies," though he followed his track 
to Tripolis and Antioch. 

Yin. Clement describes ten books which he wrote of 
Peter's preachings at Cesarea, and sent to James. These, 
if they ever existed, are conceded to be different from the 
ten books of the " Recognitions." 

IX. Stoppages of one day at Dora, and of ten at Ptol- 
emais, (Accho,) are not mentioned in the other version, 
but are in fact precluded by the circumstances, 

X. Peter says that Mesraim, from whom the Egyptians, 
Babylonians and Persians are descended, was called Zo- 
roaster by the Greeks. In the " Homilies " the name is 
Nebrod (Nimrod.) 

XI. The word " Christian " is put in Peter's mouth sev- 
eral years before the disciples were said to have been 
first so called at Antioch. 

Xn. Peter forbids the recognition of any Apostle be- 
sides the twelve, corresponding with the " twelve months, 
the accepted year of God," and of any teacher not duly 
accredited by James of Jerusalem or his successor. This 
is intended, of course, to exclude Paul, whose claim was 



340 STORY OF CLEMENT OF ROME. 

not generally accepted till near the end of the 2d century. 
And it is worthy of note that of the first fifteen bishops 
of Jerusalem, as named by Eusebius, all are Jews, and 
that after the death of James's successor, Simon, which 
is fixed about a. d. 100, the average term of the remain- 
ing thirteen is only two years and eight months. 

XIII. It was not Peter alone who first met the poor 
old workman, as stated in the " Homilies," but the three 
sons were all present, and it was they, not Peter, who 
discussed genesis with the old man. The discussion 
lasted three days before the recognition, and it was in 
answer to Clement, not Peter, that the old man told the 
story of the fate of his wife and children. The three sons 
discovered that he was their father, and were going to 
make themselves known, when Peter restrained them and 
performed his part in the drama, thus : 

Peter. What was the name of your younger son ? 

Old Man. Clement. 

Peter. If I shall this day restore to you your most 
chaste wife, and your three sons, will you admit that 
there is nothing in your genesis ? 

Old Man. That is impossible. 

Peter. Let all here present witness that I know this 
man's story better than he does. He is a Roman citizen, 
related to Cesar, and his name is Faustinianus. His wife 
was also a woman of rank, named Matthidia. She had 
three sons ; the younger is this man Clement ; the two 
elder are these men, Aquila and Niceta, formerly called 
Faustus and Faustinus. 

There are many more discrepancies and contradictions 
in the two versions of this remarkable romance. Simon 
Magus no doubt existed and began to flourish before a. d. 
30, (as will be shown in the next chapter,) but Peter is 
undoubtedly a myth. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

THE GNOSTICS. 

Gnostic, from gnosis, knowledge, was a term applied 
to a number of the earliest Christian sects. Their 
system was a combination of Oriental theology and Greek 
philosophy with allegorical Judaism and the recognition 
of Christ as one of the Eons, or eternal creative powers 
emanating from the Supreme Deity. The sects were di- 
vided in opinion as to the nature of Jesus Christ. Some 
believed in a twofold nature, one heavenly and the other 
earthly, which were united in his person at his baptism 
in the Jordan and were separated at the crucifixion. 
Others held that his manifestation in the flesh was a mere 
shadow and delusion. 

Church historians strive to make it appear that Gnosti- 
cism did not originate until many years after the cruci- 
fixion ; and yet they concede that in the 2d century it had 
spread over the whole civilized world. (Chamb. Enc.) How 
it gained such headway in the short space of one hundred 
years or less, is almost as great a mystery as the boasted 
spread of the gospel "throughout the whole world," 
(Rom. i, 8,) and the preaching of it " to every creature 
under heaven " (Col. i, 23) in the brief period of thirty 
years. But we know the statement of Paul to be false, 
and we know further that in the 2d century Orthodox 
Christianity, so-called, had but a feeble foothold, while 
Gnosticism prevailed mightily. 

A priori, therefore, we affirm that Gnosticism existed 
long before the Christian era ; and a posteriori we now 
proceed to prove it. 

In Acts viii, 9-24 we read of Simon the sorcerer who 
liad for a " long time " bewitched the people of Samaria. 

341 



342 • THE GNOSTICS. 

This was within a year after the crucifixion. (See margi- 
nal chronology.) Now whether we allow for the ministry 
of Jesus one year, according to the Synoptics, or three 
and a half, according to John, it is evident upon the state- 
ment of Acts that Simon had been practising his arts and 
propagating his religious system before Jesus began to 
preach. In other words, Simon preceded Jesus. 

This also further appears from the "Story of Clem- 
ent of Rome," which brings Simon and Peter to- 
gether in the very year of the crucifixion, and introduces 
Simon as a magician of long practice. Moreover in the 
Apocryphal "Acts of Peter and Paul," Peter says to Nero, 
"there were before us false Christs like Simon." But 
aside from this fictitious evidence, the fact attested by 
Justin and others of Simon's appearance at Bome in the 
reign of Claudius, (a. d. 41-54,) where he was honored by 
a statue, makes it quite certain that he must have been in 
his prime as early as a. d. 29. 

Now not only was this Simon a magician but a Gnostic, 
as appears from the " Homilies " and " Recognitions " of 
Clement, and from the united testimony of the Fathers. 
The discovery in 1842 of a complete copy of the " Refuta- 
tion of all Heresies," written by Hippolytus about a. d. 
230, throws a flood of light on Gnosticism. He traces 
the so-called heresy far back of Simon, and finds its 
origin in astrology. He describes five distinct successive 
sects of Gnostics prior to Simon, as follows : 

1. The Ophites, (serpent worshippers,) he says, were 
the grand source of the heresy, but of these he gives but 
little account. 

2. The Naasseni, whose name likewise implies serpent 
"worship, also styled themselves Gnostics, and claimed to- 
have sounded the depths of knowledge. To them were 
handed .down through a woman named Mariamne the 



THE GNOSTICS. 343 

numerous discourses of James the brother of the Lord. 
They sang hymns to Adam, an ideal hermaphrodite -man, 
the originating cause of all things. They divided this 
divine man into three parts, namely, rational, physical, 
and earthly. All these qualities descended into Jesus, 
the son of Mary. They had a " Gospel of Thomas," from 
which Hippolytus quotes a passage, which however does 
not agree with anything in the Apocryphal Gospel of that 
name now extant. 

3. The Peratse, whose founder was Euphrates the Pe- 
ratic, recognized three Gods, three Logoi, (Words,) three 
Minds, three Men, and maintained that Christ, who was 
uncreated, and had a threefold nature, a threefold body, 
and a threefold power, came down from above in the time 
of Herod. In Christ " dwelt all the fullness of the God- 
head bodily " — the entire divine Triad. The universe 
consisted of Father, Son, and Matter, the intermediate 
Son being the Word and the Serpent, without whom no 
one could be saved. Hippolytus quotes a long passage 
from one of their books, and also a sentiment attributed 
to the sect, which is found in the Sibylline Oracles. 

4. The Sethians had a book entitled " Paraphrase of 
Seth," and their system was made up of allegorical Juda- 
ism and heathen mythology applied to Christ. 

5. The Justinians, founded by Justinus, like the prior 
sects recognized a triad of principles. They had a book 
called " Baruch," and they held that in the days of Herod 
Baruch was sent down by Elohim, and coming to Naza- 
reth he found Jesus the son of Joseph and Mary, a child 
of twelve years, feeding sheep. To him he delivered this 



" All the prophets anterior to thee have been enticed. Put forth 
an effort, therefore, Jesus, Son of man, not to be allured, but preach 
this word unto men, and carry back tidings to them of things per- 



344 THE GNOSTICS. 

taining to the Father, and things pertaining to the Good One, and 
ascend to the Good One, and sit there with Elohim, Father of ns 
all." 

Obeying the angelic message, Jesus proceeded to preach. 
This excited the anger of Naas, (the Serpent,) who, not be- 
ing able to seduce Jesus, caused him to be crucified. 

All the foregoing sects of Gnostics preceded Simon 
Magus, the founder of another sect, and from him down 
to the middle of the 3d century we find a succession of 
distinguished Gnostic teachers, more than twice outnum- 
bering the Orthodox Fathers in the same period. Now, 
had Gnosticism prevailed over Catholicism and continued 
down to our time, is it not certain that it would have 
claimed and proved its origin prior to the Christian era ? 
And with what consistency could it have asserted the ex- 
istence of even a phantom Jesus in the days of Pontius 
Pilate ? Would it not have been compelled to place the 
advent of its Christ long before the 15th year of Tiberius 
Cesar?* 



CHAPTER XLV. 
CONCLUSION. 

Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary in the days of 
Augustus Cesar, and crucified under Pontius Pilate, is 
doubtless a creation of the 2d century. 

The New Testament Epistles and Apocalypse, most of 
which were written before the end of the 1st century, 
contain no hint of the existence of an earthly child Jesus, 
nor of his death in the reign of Tiberius, except in 1 Tim., 

*Even the Jesus who was stoned and hanged about 75 b. c, ac- 
cording to the Talmud and the " Toldoth Jeshu," would have been 
rather too late for the earthly phantom of the Gnostics. (See Ap- 
pendix.) 



CONCLUSION. 345 

vi, 13, where it is said that " Christ Jesus witnessed a good 
confession before Pontius Pilate." 

But the Epistles to Timothy and Titus are forgeries 
of the 2d century, whereas the Apocalypse, written about 
A. D. 69, speaks of " the lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world," (xiii, 8,) and of the Lord being crucified 
in " the great city spiritually called Sodom and Egypt," 
(xi, 8.) 

In the Gospels which made their earliest appearance in 
the 2d century, we find the story of the birth, ministry, 
and death of Jesus in the days of Augustus and Tiberius. 

In the writings of the so-called Apostolic Fathers we 
look in vain for the Virgin Mary, the infant Jesus, or the 
crucifixion under Pontius Pilate, until we come down to 
the Epistles of Ignatius, which are certainly spurious, 
and a late product of the 2d century, if not of the 3d. 

This side of the Apostolic Fathers, who, as we have 
heretofore shown, knew none of the twelve Apostles, nor 
even the thirteenth Apostle Paul, Justin is the earliest 
real and authenticated Father. Indeed, he is as early as 
the two Apostolic Fathers Polycarp and Papias, who died 
about the same time that he did, all three being reputed 
martyrs between a. d. 163 and 168. 

The writings of all the Apostolic Fathers prior to and 
•contemporary with Justin, do not aggregate more than 
two hundred full printed pages. 

The undisputed works of Justin alone exceed those of 
all the contemporary and prior Fathers. 

Justin appears to be the earliest authenticated Chris- 
tian Avho recognizes Jesus as born of the Virgin Mary 
and crucified under Pontius Pilate, and his information 
is derived from a Gospel not now extant, which he calls 
*' Memoirs of the Apostles," and from the apocryphal 
^' Acts of Pilate." 



346 CONCLUSION. 

In Justin's time the Gnostics flourished in their ze- 
nith. They had a phantom Jesus who came down from 
Heaven, in the . 15th year of Tiberius Cesar, (Marcion's 
Gospel, A. D. 140,) and who only seemed to suffer cruci- 
fixion. They also had a Chre^stos, who was one of the 
external uncreated Eons. 

Of the writings of the Gnostics only a few fragments 
have come down to us, such as the Catholic Fathers have 
seen fit to quote. 

Justin had a disciple Tatian, who embraced Christianity 
at Rome, but after the death of his master he renounced 
the doctrine of the incarnation and humanity of Christ 
and established himself at Antioch as a Gnostic. We 
have one small work of Tatian, about 40 pages, written 
between a. d. 170 and 180. Of his other works there are 
only a few sentences ; the Catholic Church destroyed all 
heretical writings. Tatian had a Gospel, says Theodoret, 
(a. d. 430,) which omitted the genealogies and all other 
passages showing that Christ was born of David accord- 
ing to the flesh, (Sup. Rel. ii, 154.) Tatian's repudiation, 
after his migration from Rome to Antioch, of the human 
Savior, is a very significant fact. 

Theophilus was Bishop of Antioch from a. d. 168 to 
181, or later. He calls himself a Christian, and yet in 
the single work of his extant, about 80 pages, he never 
mentions Jesus or Christ, and ridicules the idea that a 
God can be born. He quotes largely from the prophecies 
of the Sibyl and sparingly from the Gospel, never telling 
us what Jesus says, but what "the Gospel teaches," and 
what are the instructions of the "Divine Word." His 
Christ is simply the Logos or Word, and he quotes the 
first sentence of the 4th Gospel, " In the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was with God," as what the "in- 
spired (or spirit-bearing) John says." This is the first 



CONCLUSION. 347 

quotation by any writer from any Evangelist by name. 
Theophilus does not seem to recognize the advent of 
Christ as having taken place, and dates Christianity from 
Moses, and even from the beginning of the world. He 
probably believed neither in the genealogy of Jesus nor 
in his historical existence. 

Athenagoras, the Athenian Philosopher and Christian, 
was the most elegant and perhaps the ablest of the early 
Fathers. We have about 80 pages of his works, written 
about A. D. 177. He nowhere mentions Christ or any 
event of his life. Nor does he mention or quote from any 
Gospel, but he puts into the mouth of the " Logos " cer- 
tain sayings, some of which resemble passages in our 
Gospels and others do not. (Plea for Christians, ch. 32.) 
No wonder that neither Eusebius nor Jerome mentions 
him. He probably did not believe in a historical Jesus. 

Hegesippus, a Palestine Jew, became a Christian and 
wrote five books of historical memoirs after a. d. 177, 
from which Eusebius made some extracts. The prin- 
cipal one, about the death of the Lord's brother James 
in Jerusalem, we have heretofore given, (ch. xxvi.) Heges- 
ippus also describes the persecution of two " grand- 
children of Judas, called the brother of our Lord accord- 
ing to the flesh." They owned and cultivated a farm of 
thirty-nine acres, valued at $1350. Being brought before 
Domitian (a. d. 81-96) and questioned concerning Christ 
and his kingdom, they both avowed themselves adventists^ 
whereupon the Emperor dismissed them with contempt 
as simpletons, and ordered the persecution to cease. 
Then the two hard-fisted farmers returned and " ruled the 
churches." (Eas. iii, 20.) Again, Hegesippus describes 
the martyrdom of " Simeon, the son of Cleophas, our 
Lord's uncle," who succeeded his cousin James as Bishop 
of Jerusalem, about a. d. 68, and was tortured to death 



348 



CONCLUSION. 



in the reign of Trajan (a. d. 98-117) at the age of 120. 
(lb. iii, 32 ; iv, 22.) 

From this it appears that Hegesippus recognized the 
humanity of Jesus Christ ; and furthermore, he intimates 
that he suffered a violent death, Hke that of his cousin 
Simeon, (Eus. iii, 32;) nevertheless he says nothing about 
the genealogy of Jesus except by inference in speaking 
of his two grand-nephews, the aforesaid farmers, who, he 
says, " were reported as being of the family of David." 
(iii, 20.) 

The fragments of the remaining Fathers, Dionysius, 
Eishop of Corinth, (a. d. 168-176,) Melito, Bishop of Sar- 
dis, (170 — ,) and Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapo- 
lis, (177-180,) throw no light upon the question of a his- 
torical Jesus, until we come down to the voluminous 
works of the three great contemporary Fathers, Ireneus, 
Bishop of Lyons, (177-202,) Clement of Alexandria, (189- 
202 or later,) and Tertullian of Carthage, (193-220,) who 
established the Catholic or Christian Church, based upon 
the belief in Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary and 
crucified under Pontius Pilate. 

Let any one search the writings of the prior Fathers 
and find, if he can, one besides Justin who recognizes 
that fundamental doctrine of the Church. Nay, more, let 
him find one besides Justin, Hegesippus, and possibly 
the foolish Papias, who distinctly and unequivocally rec- 
ognizes a historical human Jesus.* 

* We are aware that two or three passages in the Epistle of Clem- 
ent and a few more in that of Barnabas seem to imply the existence 
of a Jesus in mortal flesh. So also of like apparent import are cer- 
tain passages in Paul's Epistles. This we admitted at the outset to 
be a formidable point, (see p. 18 ;) indeed it was the only difficulty 
of any magnitude in our way. But we have demonstrated that Paul 
knew no Galilean Apostles ; we showed that his Christ was not the 
Christ of the Evangelists ; we have found the earliest trace of his 
Epistles in the hands of Marcion, a Gnostic who denied the human- 



CONCLUSION. 349 

Oh ! had we the writings of only a few of the maDj 
Gnostics of the 2d century, doubtless the audacious fraud 
of the Catholic Church would be apparent to the dullest 
mind. 

But even Justin, the earliest champion of a historical 
Jesus, discloses the prevalence of a contrary belief in his 
time. In his " Dialogue with Trypho the Jew," he puts 
into the mouth of his opponent this remarkable language : 

" But Christ— (/■ he lias indeed heen horn and exists anywhere — is 
unknown, and does not even know himself, and has no power until 
Elias comes to anoint him, and make him manifest to all. And you, 
having accepted a groundless report, invent a Christ for yourselves, 
and for his sake are inconsiderately perishing." (Ch. 8.) 

Justin, in reply to this, offered to prove, if Trypho was 
willing to listen to an account of Christ, that his worship- 
pers had "not been deceived" and had "not believed 
empty fables." At this some of Trypho's friends " laughed 
and shouted in an unseemly manner," whereupon Justin 
"rose up and was about to leave," but Trypho held him 
back by his garments and called for his proofs. Justin, 
however, would not proceed until the scoffers quitted the 
place or agreed to listen in respectful silence. Two of 
them accordingly withdrew in disgust. But when the 
discussion was resumed Justin turned the subject, and 
the two theologians talked about Abraham, Moses, and the 
Prophets ; nor did Jhistin allude to the Gospel story about 
Christ for a long time, and when he came to speak of 

ity of Jesus ; and we have proved that Gnosticism existed before 
the Christian era. Furthermore, we have a right to presume that 
Paul's writings were tampered with after Marcion's time to suit the 
Catholic creed. It was our intention further to discuss the ques- 
tion of the nature of Paul's Jesus, but happily we are relieved of 
all difficulty on this point by the discovery that Paul flourished be- 
fore the Christian era. (See Appendix.) And in view of that im- 
portant discovery may not the Epistles of Clement and Barnabas, 
like those of Paul, be assigned to a very early period, even ante- 
dating the Christian era ? 



350 CONCLUSION. 

Jesus he said he was born in a cave and cradled in a 
manger, where he was seen by the Magi. (Ch. 78.) 

This agrees only in part with Matthew and Luke and 
in part with the Apocryphal Gospels. Luke says the 
shepherds came and saw the babe in a manger, (ii, 16,) 
but does not say that the manger was in a cave. Matthew 
says the Magi came and saw the young child in a "house," 
(ii, 11.) Now a cave might be used as a stable, and a 
stable might answer for a house ; but who would think of 
calling a cave where cattle were stalled a house ? 

But the Apocryphal Gospels have Jesus born in a cave 
which, from the description, could not have been a stable. 
Indeed, the " Protevangelion " has the child temporarily 
removed from the cave to an ox-stall to elude the search 
by Herod, (ch. 22;) and "Pseudo-Matthew" has him re- 
moved to a stable on the third day in order to fulfil a 
prophecy, (ch. 14.) And both these Gospels, as also that 
of the "Infancy," have the adoration of the Magi, angels, 
or shepherds take place in the cave. (Prot., 21 ; Pseudo- 
Matt., 13-16 ; Inf., 4, 5.) 

St. Jerome, who lived at Bethlehem a. d. 400, repeat- 
edly mentions the " cave in which the Son of God was 
born" as then existing, with an "altar within," where 
" once was the Lord's manger." But before the discov- 
ery of the holy places of Palestine b}^ mother Constantine 
the Pagan women used to mourn for their beloved Tham- 
muz, ^. e., Adonis, in that very cave. It is said to be 
there still. Antichrist thinks of visiting it some day and 
chalking on the door Cave Inn. 

The Ignatian Epistles, which are doubtless later than 
Justin, contain frequent rebukes of those who deny the 
birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 
• It is remarkable, however, that none of these rebukes 
are contained in the Syriac version, which is no doubt the 



CONCLUSION. 351 

earliest ; but on the contrary, there are two passages in 
the Syriac, both of which are repeated in the two Greek 
versions, which savor of Gnosticism. One is as follows : 

Syriac. — " Look for him that is above the times, him who has no 
times, him who is invisible, him who for our sakes became visible, 
him who is impalpable, him who is impassible, him who for our sakes 
suffered, him who endured everything in every form for our sakes." 
(Polycarp, iii.) 

Short Greek. — "Look for him who is above all time, eternal and 
invisible, yet who became visible for our sakes; impalpable and 
impassible, yet who became passible on our account, and who in 
every kind of way suffered for our sakes." (Ibid.) 

Long Greek. — " Look for Christ, the Son of God ; who was before 
time, yet appeared in time ; who was invisible by nature, yet visi- 
ble in the flesh ; who was impalpable, and could not be touched, as 
being without a body, but for our sakes became such, might be 
touched and handled in the body ; who was impassible as God, but 
became passible for our sakes as man ; and who in every kind of 
way suffered for our sakes." (Ibid.) 

The other Gnostic passage is as follows : 

Syriac. — " There was concealed from the ruler of this world the 
virginity of Mary and the birth of our Lord, and the three mysteries 
of the shout which were done in the tranquility of God from the 
star." (Ephesians, xix.) 

Short Greek. — "Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the 
prince of this world, as was also her offspring and the death of the 
Lord ; three mysteries of noise, which were wrought in silence by 
God. How, then, was he manifested to the ages ? A star shone 
forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inex- 
pressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment." (Ibid.) 

The Long Greek varies . so slightly from the Short 
Greek that the passage need not be repeated. Gnosti- 
cism per;;rades the whole chapter, of which the last part is 
missing in the Syriac. 

But we now turn to a few of the passages in the Greek 
versions rebuking disbelief or denial of the birth, death, 
and resurrection of Jesus : 

** They also calumniate his being born of the Virgin; they are 



352 CONCLUSION. 

ashamed of his cross ; they deny his passion ; and they do not be- 
lieve his resurrection." (Trallians, vi.) 

" If any one confesses the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, 
and praises the creation, but calls the incarnation merely an appear- 
ance, and is ashamed of the passion, such an one has denied the 
faith, not less than the Jews who killed Christ." (Philadelphi- 
ans, vi.) 

" And he suffered truly, even as also he truly raised up himself, 
not, as certain unbelievers maintain, that he only seemed to suffer." 
(Smymeans, ii.) 

"I have learned that certain of the ministers of Satan have wished 
to disturb you, some of them asserting that Jesus was bom only in 
appearance, was crucified in appearance, and died in appearance." 
(Tarsians, ii.) 

*' He that rejects the incarnation and is ashamed of the cross for 
which I am in bonds, this man is Antichrist." (Antiochians, v.) 

" Wherefore also he [Christ] works in some that they should deny 
the cross, be ashamed of the passion, call the death an appearance, 
mutilate and explain away the birth of the Virgin, and calumniate 
the human nature itself as being abominable." (Philippians, iv.) 

■ The last three quotations are from what are termed 
the " Spurious Epistles of Ignatius," but all undoubtedly 
belong to that category, except perchance some small por- 
tions of the Syriac version. The inquisitive reader is re- 
ferred further to Magnesians, xi, Smyrneans, i, iii, iv, v, 
and Philippians, iii, v, vii. 

Whatever date may be assigned to these writings — 
whether at the beginning of the 2d century or much 
later, with additions in the 3d or 4th — they betray the 
existence of wide-spread Gnosticism and a prevailing dis- 
belief in the existence of Jesus as a man in mortal flesh. 
But coming down to Ireneus, the first publisher of the 
four Gospels, (a. d. 190,) we find in his writings an un- 
equivocal affirmation that Jesus Christ, instead of being 
a youth of 30, was an old man, past 50, at least, when 
he died. This is equivalent to admitting that the story 
of the crucifixion under Pontius Pilate is a fiction — though 



CONCLUSION. 353 

Ireneus, instead of denying that story, as some have has- 
tily inferred, inaintains it throughout his writings. How 
he could have written such a stultifying argument and 
affirmation of fact as the following is a mystery : 

" Being thirty years old when he came to be baptized, and then 
possessing the fall age of a Master, he came to Jerusalem, so that 
he might be properly acknowledged by all as a Master. For he did 
not seem one thing while he was another, as those affirm who de- 
scribe him as being a man only in appearance ; but what he was, 
that he also appeared to be. Being a Master, therefore, he also 
possessed the age of a Master, not despising or evading any condi- 
tion of humanity, nor setting aside in himself that law which he 
had appointed for the human race, but sanctifying every age, by 
that period corresponding to it which belonged to himself. For he 
came to save all through means of himself — all, I say, who through 
him are bom to God — infants, and children, and boys, and youths, 
and old men. He therefore passed through every age, becoming 
an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants ; a child for children, 
thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same time 
made to them an example of piety, righteousness and submission ; 
a youth for youths, thus becoming an example to youths, and thus 
sanctifying them for the Lord. So, likewise, he was an old man for 
old men, that he might be a perfect Master for all, not merely as 
respects the setting forth of the truth, but also as regards age, 
sanctifying at the same time the aged also, and becoming an example 
to them likewise. Then at last he came on to death itself, that he 
might be the ' first born from the dead, and that in all things he 
might have preeminence,' the Prince of life, existing before all and 
going before all. 

" They, however, that they might establish their false opinion 
regarding that which is written, ' to proclaim the acceptable year 
of the Lord,' maintain that he preached for one year only, and then 
suffered in the twelfth month. [In speaking thus] they are forget- 
ful of their own disadvantage, destroying his whole work and rob- 
bing him of that age which is both more necessary and more hon- 
orable than any other ; that more advanced age of men, I mean, 
during which, also as a teacher, he excelled all others. For how 
could he have had disciples if he did not teach ? And how could he 
have taught unless he had reached the age of a Master ? For when 



354 CONCLUSION. 

he came to be baptized he had not completed his thirtieth year, but 
was beginning to be about thirty years of age, (for thus Luke, who 
has mentioned his years, has expressed it : ' Now Jesus was, as it 
were, beginning to be thirty years old,' when he came to receive 
baptism;) and [according to these men] he preached only one year, 
reckoning from his baptism. On completing his thirtieth year he 
suffered, being in fact still a young man, and who had by no means 
attained to advanced age. Now that the first stage of early life 
embraces thirty years, and that this extends onward to the fortieth 
year, every one will admit ; but from the fortieth and fiftieth year 
a man begins to decline toward old age, which our Lord possessed, 
while he still fulfilled the office of a Teacher, even as the Gospel, and 
all the elders testify; those who were conversant in Asia with John, 
the disciple of the Lord, [affirming] that John conmyed to them that 
information. And he [John] remained among them up to the times 
of Trajan. Some of them, moreover, saw not only John, but the 
other Apostles also, and hea/rd the very same account from them, and 
bear testimony as to the [validity o/] the statement." (Agt. Heres., 
B. ii, ch. xxii, 4, 5.) 

A little sum in arithmetic would have revealed to 
Ireneus how fatal his allegations were to the truth of the 
Gospel story. If Jesus was about 30 years old in the 
15th year of Tiberius (a. d. 29) as stated by Luke, and if 
he lived to be 50 or upwards, then of course his death 
must have been as late as a. d. 49, which would be the 
9th year of Claudius, or 12 years after the death of Tibe- 
rius and the dismissal of governor Pilate. 

This fearful dogmatic blunder of Ireneus was strangely 
overlooked until Godfrey Higgins translated the passage 
in 1836. It now appears in the "Ante-Nicene Christian 
Library," and how it can be harmonized with an honest 
belief in the Gospel story passeth the understanding of 
Antichrist. 

Perhaps in Father Ireneus we might justly claim the 
fulfilment of the prophecy of Paul, saying, " For this 
cause God shall send them strong delusion that they 
should believe a lie." For we appeal to every rational 



CONCLUSION. 355 

reader whether we have not proved the Gospel story to 
be a stupendous delusion, an audacious lie ? 

Nor is this a rash conclusion unsupported by compe- 
tent authority. The learned German theologian, Dr. 
Strauss, in 1835 published a " Life of Jesus " for 
scholars, and in 1864 a new one for the people. At the 
close of the last work he sums up the result of his re- 
searches in these words : 

" I do not think the case is so bad as has lately been maintained, 
as that we cannot know for certain of any one of the texts which are 
put into the mouth of Jesus in the Gospels, whether he uttered 
them or not. I believe that there are some which we may ascribe 
to Jesus with all that amount of probability beyond which we can- 
not generally go in historical matters ; and I have endeavored above 
to explain the signs by which we may recognize such. But this 
probability approaching to certainty does not extend far ; and, with 
the exception of the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem and his death, 
the facts and circumstances of his life are unfavorably situated. 
There is little of which we can say for certain that it took place ; 
and of aU to which the faith of the church especially attaches itself, 
the miraculous and supernatural matter in the facts and destinies of 
Jesus, it is far more certain that it did not take place." 

Mark the timid hope expressed by the author that some 
sayings ascribed to Jesus. may have been uttered by him. 
But as to all the other historical matters, he confesses 
that they are " unfavorably situated " save the journey to 
Jerusalem and the crucifixion. It is amazing to us that 
the learned author should have singled out these two 
events as probably historical. The journey to Jerusalem, 
ending with a triumphal donkey ride, interpreted as a 
fulfilment of prophecy, is too absurd and foolish to be 
regarded as fact ; and the crucifixion, as we have shown 
in Chapter iv, v, and elsewhere, is a manifest fiction. But 
even if there be a vestige of historical truth in these two 
events, there is no proof that they took place in the days 
of Pontius Pilate. 



APPENDIX. 

HAVE WE FOUND JESUS ? 

Early in tlie progress of our work (p. 36) notice was 
taken of an old Hebrew story entitled " Sepher Toldos 
Jeschu," referred to by Voltaire, Lardner, Taylor and 
others, most of whom regarded it as a contemptible 
forgery. Nevertheless we were very anxious to see the 
book, but had little or no hope of finding it in this coun- 
try. But just as we were about to complete our work, 
we were surprised and delighted to find a copy of Wagen- 
seil's Tela Ignea Satanm (1681) containing the legend in 
Hebrew, with a rough Latin translation. We lost no time 
in rendering the Latin into English and publishing it in 
the Truth Seeker, with an introduction and notes of our 
own over the signature of " Scholasticus." Soon after- 
wards Mr. Bennett, at his own instance, republished the 
ivhole in a pamphlet with the following title : 

Sepheb Toldoth Jeschxj : Book of the generation op Jesus. — 
First English translation of the ancient Jewish story of Jesus, who 
was borA at Bethlehem about the year 106 b. c, being the son of a 
betrothed maiden named Miriam, CMary,) by Joseph Pandera. By 
the power of a charm stolen from the Holy of Holies, he cured lep- 
ers, raised the dead, and wrought other miracles. Wherefore he 
was arrested by the elders of Jerusalem, scourged, crowned with 
thorns, and by order of the Sanhedrim stoned to death and hanged 
on the day before the Passover and the Sabbath, in the reign of 
Queen Alexandria, about the year 75 b. c. 

Death of Simon Kepha on a tower in the city of the Nazarenes 
about 39 B. c. How and why the Eomans changed "Kepha " to 
^'Petros." 

Startling evidence that Paul flourished before the middle of the 

' :first century B. c. , contemporary with the aforesaid Kepha. 

357 



358 APPENDIX. 

This is indeed startling. The founders of Christianity- 
are all set back a hundred years. No wonder Dr. Lard- 
ner rejected such Christian evidence. Taking a hasty 
glance at the legend, he denounced it as a forgery of the 
15th or 16th century. This reckless assertion was made 
with Wagenseil's work before him, containing another 
version in Latin of the same story, published in the 13th 
century, and numerous citations from the Talmud con- 
cerning the same Jeshu, who lived a hundred years be- 
fore Pontius Pilate. 

This is the book which the Eev. John Pye Smith, in a 
controversy with Robert Taylor fifty years ago, trium- 
phantly cited as a crowning proof of the existence of Jesus. 
(Syntagma, p. 136.) This is "that learned work by 
contemporary Jews" which J. M. Peebles adduces in 
support of a historical Jesus. Had either of these 
champions of Christianity known the true contents of 
that work would he have been so ready to adduce it? 

Far be it from us to claim it to be a " learned work by 
contemporary Jews ;" nevertheless, even though it be as 
Voltaire characterizes it, a monstrous forgery by the Jews 
for the purpose of casting contempt and ridicule on the 
birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ, we venture to claim 
it as confirmatory, if not a crowning proof, of the non- 
existence of Jesus Christ in the reign of Tiberius Cesar. 

Paradoxical and rash as this assertion may seem, the 
evidence in support of it will be found in our critical 
notes appended to the story. 

We have revised our translation from the Latin by the 
Hebrew text, and, following the example of former trans- 
lators of ancient Scripture, we have divided the book into 
chapters and verses. 



SEPHEK TOLDOTH JESHU 

BOOK OF THE GENEBATION OF JESUS. 

CHAPTEK I. 



IN the year 671, of the fourth 
millenary [of the world,] in the 
days of Janneus, the king, a great 
misfortune happened to the ene- 
mies of Israel. 

2. There was a certain idle and 
worthless debauchee named Jo- 
seph Pandera, of the fallen tribe 
of Judah. 

3. He was a man of fine figure 
and rare beauty, but spent his 
time in robbery and licentious- 
ness. He lived at Bethlehem of 
Judea. 

4. Near by there lived a widow, 
who had a daughter named JVIiri- 
am, of whom mention is several 
times made in the Talmud as a 
dresser of women's hair. 

5. This daughter was betrothed 
by her mother to a very chaste, 
gentle, and pious youth named 
Jochanan. 

6. Now it happened that Jo- 
seph occasionally passed by Miri- 
am's door and saw her. Then he 
began to have an unholy affection 
for her. 

7. So he went to and fro about 
the place, and at length the moth- 
er said to him. What maketh thee 
so thin ? He replied, I am madly 
in love with Miriam. 

8. Then, said the mother, I 



would not deny thee the favor ; 
see if she is willing, and do with 
her as thou pleasest. 

9. Obeying her counsel, Joseph 
Pandera went frequently by the 
house, but did not find a suitable 
time until one Sabbath evening, 
when he happened to find her sit- 
ting before the door. 

10. Then he went into the 
house with her, and both sat 
down in a dormitory near the 
door, for she thought he was her 
betrothed, Jochanan. 

11. Turn ea homine ait : Neme 
attingito ; in menstruis sum. 8ed 
is morem illi non gerehat^ cumque 
circa earn Doluntati suae obsequutus 
fu'lsset^ in domum suam obit. 

12. Circa medium noctis iterum 
in €0 exardescere desiderium ma- 
lum. Ergo somno lecatus ad do- 
mum Miriamis mam affectans, ad 
cellam se confert, factumque re- 
petit. 

13. Valde autem exhorruit pu- 
ella, et quid hoc, ait, tihi nult, 
Domine, quod eadem nocte bis me 
convenisti f idque non passa sum 
ab eo inde tempore quo sponsam 
me tibi elegisti. 

14. Verum is silens repetit, nee 
verbum ullum proloquitur. Ergo 
Miriam queri: Quousque tu pec- 



360 



APPENDIX. 



cato scelus addis? annon pridem 
tibi dixi esse me menstruatam ? 

15. Verum ille non attendehat 
ad ejus mrba, sed desiderio satis- 
faciebat, ac turn postea iter perge- 
bat suum. 

16. After three months, Jochan- 
an was told that his betrothed was 
euciente. 

1 7. In great agitation, he went 
to his preceptor, Simeon Ben 
Shetach, and, telling him about 
the matter, asked him what he 
ought to do. 

18. The preceptor inquired. 
Dost thou suspect any one ? Jo- 
chanan said, Nobody, except Jo- 
seph Pandera, wht) is a great 
debauchee, and liveth near her 
house. 

19. The preceptor said, My son 
take my advice, and keep silent ; 
for if he hath been there he will 
surely go there again. Therefore 
be wise, and get a witness, so that 
thou may est fetch him up before 
the great Sanhedrim. 

20. The young man went home 
and was sorely troubled during 
the night. He thought to him- 
self, When this thing becometh 
known the people will say it was 
my doing. 

21. Therefore to avoid the 
shame and disgrace he ran away 
to Babylon and there took up his 
abode. 

22. In due time Miriam brought 
forth a son and named him 



Jehoshua, after her mother's 
brother. 

23. She sent the boy to a 
teacher named Elchanan, with 
whom he made progress in learn- 
ing, for his mind was very bright. 

24. And it came to pass by and 
by that he met the senators of 
the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem. 

25. It was then the custom 
that whoever met those senators 
should cover his head and bow 
down. 

26. But this boy as he walked 
past them bared his head, and 
touching his forehead saluted the 
principal only. 

27. Then all began to say, 
What impudence ! probably he is 
a bastard. But one of them said, 
Indeed he is a bastard and the 
son (5f an adulteress. 

. 28. Presently Simeon Ben She- 
tach said, I remember now that 
not many years ago my pupil 
Jochanan came to me and said, 

29. Alas! what a shame and 
disgrace has happened to me ! for 
Miriam my betrothed is enciente, 
not by me, but by some one else. 
This is the son of that Miriam. 

30. And when I inquired if he 
suspected any one, he said, Jo- 
seph Pandera, who was near 
neighbor of hers. 

31. And soon afterwards Jo- 
chanan went in shame to Baby- 
lon, where he dwelleth even now. 

32. Then they aU said, If these 
things are so, this boy is indeed 



SEPHEK TOLDOTH JESHU. 



361 



a bastard and the son of an adul- 
teress. 

33. Then they published him 
as such by the blowing of three 
hundred trumpets, declaring him 
not fit to come into the congrega- 
tion, and called his name Jeshu, 
signifying that his name and 
memory deserved to perish. 

34. When it became known 
that he was declared unworthy to 
be admitted into the congrega- 
tion, Jeshu with a sad heart fled 
to upper Galilee, where he dwelt 
many years. 

35. In those days there was a 
stone in the Temple on which 
was inscribed the inexpressible 
name of God. 

36. For when David laid the 
foundation he found a certain 
stone at the mouth of an abyss 
on which the name was engraved, 
and taking it up he deposited it 
in the Holy of Holies. 

37. But when the wise men 
feared that perchance studious 
youths might learn this name 
and bring destruction upon the 
world, (which calamity may God 
forbid,) they made by magic two 
brazen lions, and placed them at 
the entrance of the Holy of 
Holies, one on the right and the 
other on the left. 

38.' If -therefore any one drew 
near and learned the hidden 
name, as he went away the lions 
would roar so that in his fright 



he would forget the name for- 
ever. 

39. Now when the report that 
Jeshu was a bastard had spread 
abroad, he left upper Galilee, and 
coming secretly to Jerusalem he 
went into the Temple and there 
learned the sacred letters. 

40. And when he had written 
the hidden name on a piece of 
parchment, and spoken it, that 
he might feel no pain, he cut 
open his flesh and enclosed there- 
in the mysterious parchment. 
Then having again pronounced 
the name, he closed up the flesh. 

41. But to enter the Temple 
it was necessary to use magic 
and incantations ; otherwise how 
could the most holy priests, the 
descendants of Aaron, have al- 
lowed him to go therein ? 

42. Therefore it is manifest 
that Jeshu did all this by the art 
of magic and the power of an im- 
pure name. 

43. As he was coming out of 
the door the lions roared and he 
forgot the name. 

44. So he went outside of the 
city, and, having reopened his 
flesh, drew forth the writing, ex- 
amined well the characters, and 
got full retention of the name. 

45. Then he went to the place 
of his nativity [Bethlehem,] and 
with loud voice cried out, 

46. Who are these bad men 
who report me to be a bastard 



362 



APPENDIX. 



and of impure birth ? They are 
themselves bastards and impure. 

47. Did not a virgin bear me ? 
Did not my mother conceive me 
in the top of her head ? 

48. Indeed I am the Son of 
God, and concerning me the 
prophet Esaias spoke, saying, 
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, 
etc. 

49. Did I not form myself, and 
the heaven, earth, sea, and all 
things contained therein ? 

50. Then they all answered and 
said, Make known by some sign, 
and show by a miracle, that thou 
art God. 

51. He, answering, said, Bring 
hither to me a dead man, and I 
will restore him to life. 

52. The people made haste, 
and having dug into a certain 
sepulchre, found there nothing 
but dry bones. 

53. And when they told him 
that they had found only bones, 
he said. Bring them hither. 

54. And when they were 
brought, he put all the bones 
together and covered them with 
skin, flesh, and nerves ; so he 
that had been a dead man stood 
up on his feet alive. 

55. The people seeing this, 
marvelled. Then he said, Do 
ye wonder at this ? Bring hither 
a leper and I will cure him. 

56. And when they had brought 
a leper he restored him to health 



in like manner through the 8hem 
Hamphoras. 

57. Which, when the people 
saw, they fell down and wor- 
shiped him, saying. Verily, thou 
art the Son of God. 

58. And it came to pass, after 
the fifth day, that the dismal tid- 
ings were brought to Jerusalem, 
the most holy city, and there all 
the things were told which jeshu 
had done. 

59. Then the profligates re- 
joiced greatly ; but the old men, 
the devout, and the wise wept 
bitterly ; and in the greater and 
the lesser Sanhedrim there was 
sore lamentation. 

60. At length they all resolved 
to send messengers to Jeshu, say- 
ing among themselves. It may 
be that by the help of the Lord 
we shall capture him, bring him 
to judgment, and condemn him 
to death. 

61. Therefore they sent Ana- 
nias and Achasias, most honor- 
able men of the lesser Sanhedrim, 
who went and fell down before 
Jeshu in adoration, thereby aug- 
menting his wickedness. 

62. Therefore, thinking that 
they were sincere, he received 
them with a smiling face and 
appointed them leaders of his 
wicked flock. 

63. Then they thus began to 
appeal to him : Lo, the leading 
citizens of Jerusalem have sent 



SEPHEE TOLDOTH JESHU. 



363 



"as ambassadors to thee, praying 
that thou wouldst deign to come 
to them, for they have heard that 
thou art the Son of God. 

64. Then said Jeshu,What they 
have heard is true, and lo, I will 
do all that ye ask, but upon this 
condition : 

65. That all the senators of the 
greater and lesser Sanhedrim, and 
those also who have defamed my 
nativity, shall come forth and 



worship me, receiving me even 
as servants receive i^eir lords. 

66. The messengers, returning 
to Jerusalem, reported all that 
had been said. 

67. The elders and devout men 
answered. We will do all that he 
asketh. 

68. Therefore the men went 
again to Jeshu and declared that 
they would do whatever he de- 
sired. Then Jeshu said, I will ga 
with you at once. 



CHAPTER II. 



AND it came to pass that when 
Jeshu was come to Nob, which 
is near Jerusalem, he said to 
them, Have ye here a good and 
comely ass ? 

2. And when they replied that 
one was at hand, he said, Bring 
him hither. 

3. And a beautiful ass being 
brought, he mounted upon him 
and went to Jerusalem. 

4. As he entered the city all 
the people sallied out to meet 
him. 

5. And raising his voice he said 
to them, Concerning me the 
prophet Zacharias testified, say- 
ing. Behold thy king cometh to 
thee, just and having salvation, 
lowly and sitting upon an ass and 
a colt the foal of an ass. 

6. These things being known, 
there was great weeping and 
rending of garments, and the de- 



vout men went and complained 
to the Queen. 

7. (She was Queen Helena, the 
wife of King Janneus mentioned 
above ; she reigned after the 
death of her husband. She is 
otherwise called Oleina, and had 
a son Nunbasus, the king, other- 
wise called Hyrcanus, who was 
slain by his subordinate Herod.) 

8. The devout men said to the 
Queen, This fellow deserveth the 
worst punishment, for he is a se- 
ducer of the people. Prithee,^ 
grant us the power, and we will 
take him by subtlety. 

9. The Queen answering, said, 
Call him hither that I may under- 
stand the accusation. 

10. But she thought to save 
him from their hands, because 
she was related to him by blood. 

11. Now the wise men perceiv- 
ing her design, said to her, Do 



364 



APPENDIX. 



not, O royal mistress, undertake 
to do this, lest thou shouldst be- 
come his abettor ; for by his sor- 
ceries he leadeth men into error 
and crime. 

12. At the same time they ex- 
plained to her the whole matter 
of the Shem HampTioras, and then 
added, It is for thee to impose 
punishment, for he deserveth the 
worst. 

13. Then they narrated the his- 
tory of Joseph Pandera. 

, 14. Wherefore the Queen said, 
I have heard you and will con- 
sent to this : Bring him to me and 
let me hear what he saith, and see 
what he doeth ; for everybody 
telleth me of the great miracles 
he performeth. 

15. The wise men replied, We 
will do as thou say est. 

16. Therefore they sent for Je- 
shu, and placed him before the 
Queen. 

17. Then thus the Queen spoke: 
I have heard that thou perform- 
est many wonderful miracles : 
now do one in my presence. 

18. Jeshu replied. Whatever 
thou commandest, I will do. 
Meanwhile I pray this one thing : 
that thou wilt not give me into 
the hands of these wicked men 
who have pronounced me a bas- 
tard. 

19. The Queen replied, Fear 
nothing. 

20. Then Jeshu said, Bring 



hither a leper and I will heal 
him. 

21. And when a leper was 
brought he laid his hand upon 
him, and invoking the Almighty 
name restored him to health, so 
that the flesh of his face became 
like that of a boy. 

22. Furthermore Jeshu said, 
Bring hither a dead body. 

23. And a dead body being 
brought, he straightway put his 
hand upon it, and pronounced 
the name, and it revived and 
stood upon its feet. 

24. Then said Jeshu, Esaias 
prophesied concerning me, Then 
shall the lame man leap as a hart, 
etc. 

25. Then the Queen turning to 
the wise men said, How can ye 
afl&rm that this man is a sorcer- 
er ? Have I not seen him with 
mine own eyes performing mir- 
acles as if he were the Son of 
God? 

26. But the wise men answer- 
ing, said, Let not the Queen 
speak thus, for most certainly 
this man is a sorcerer. 

27. But the Queen said. Get 
ye hence from my sight, and 
never again bring a like accusa- 
tion before me. 

28. Therefore the wise men left 
the presence of the Queen, sad at 
heart, and conferring one with 
another they said, Let us show 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 



365 



ourselves crafty, so that this fel- 
low may fall into our hands. 

29. Moreover a certain one of 
them said, If it seemeth good to 
you, let one of us also learn the 
name, as he did, and perform the 
miracles, and perchance we may 
take him. 

30. The wise men approved of 
this device, and said, Whoever 
shall learn the name and shall 
secure this fellow, to him shall 
be given a double reward in the 
world to come, 

31. Forthwith a certain one of 
the wise men named Judas arose 
and said. If ye will answer for 
the blame of the offence by which 
I shall speak the Almighty name, 
I will learn it. 

32. And peradventure God in 
his mercy and great goodness 
will bless me, and bring into 
my hands this bastard and son 
of an adulteress. 

33. Then all with one voice 
cried out. On us be the guilt : 
do as thou hast proposed, and 
may thy work prosper. 

34. Therefore he also went in- 
to the Holy of Holies, and did the 
same that Jeshu had done. 

35. Then going through the 
city he cried out, Where are they 
who report that this bastard is 
the Son of God ? Am not I, who 
am only flesh and blood, able to 
do the things which Jeshu hath 
done? 

36. The Queen and her minis- 



ters having heard of this, Judas 
was brought before her, accom- 
panied by the elders and wise 
men of Jerusalem. 

37. But the Queen summoned 
Jeshu and said to him, Show us 
what thou hast lately done. And 
he began to perform his miracles 
before the people. 

38. Then Judas spoke these 
words to the Queen and all the 
people : Nothing that this fellow 
doeth is wonderful to us. Let 
him nestle among the stars and 
I will hurl him down. 

39. Then Jeshu thus' addressed 
the whole people : Have ye not 
been from the beginning, from 
the time when I first knew you, 
a stiff-necked people ? 

40. Judas answered. Is it not 
true that thou dost practise wick- 
edness, thou bastard and son of 
an adulteress ? 

41. Did not our master Moses 
say concerning thee, If thy bro- 
ther, the son of thy mother, en- 
tice thee, saying. Let us, etc., 
thou shalt bring the man out, 
and stone him with stones that 
he die, etc. ? 

42. But the bastard answering, 
said. Did not Esaias prophesy 
concerning me ? 

43. And are not these the words 
of my great forefather [David] 
concerning me : The Lord said 
unto me, Thou art my son ; this 
day have I begotten thee, etc. ? 

44. And in like manner in an- 



366 



APPENDIX. 



other place he said, The Lord 
said unto my Lord, sit thou at 
my right hand. 

45. And now I will ascend to 
my heavenly Father and will sit 
at his right hand, and ye shall 
behold it with your eyes. But 
thou, Judas, shall not attain to 
this. 

46. And now Jeshu uttered the 
Almighty name, and there came a 
wind and lifted him up between 
heaven and earth. 

47. Forthwith Judas invoked 
the same name, and the wind 
also suspended him between 
heaven and earth ; and thus both 
soared round about through the 
air. 

48. At the sight of these things 
all were astonished. But Judas 
again recited the name and seiz- 
ing the wretch sought to hurl him 
down to the earth. 

49. Then Jeshu also invoked 
the name for the purpose of 
bringing Judas down, and thus 
they wrestled together. 

50. But Judas seeing that his 
strength was not equal to that of 
Jeshu, moistened him with the 
sweat of his body. 

51. Wherefore being rendered 
impure, they were both deprived 
of the use of the SJiem EampJio- 
ras until they were washed. 

52. Then a death sentence was 
brought against Jeshu, and they 
said to him, If thou wouldst be 
free, do the things which thou 



53. But Jeshu, when he found 
himself unable to do them, raised 
his voice in lamentation, saying, 

54. David, my forefather, pro- 
phesied concerning me, saying. 
Yea, for thy sake we are killed all 
the day long, etc. 

55. When his disciples and the 
wicked crowd that adhered to 
him saw these things, being ex- 
posed to the danger of death, 
they fought with the elders and 
the wise men of Jerusalem, and 
enabled Jeshu to escape from the 
city. 

56. So Jeshu went speedily to 
Jordan ; and when he had washed 
and purified himself, he declared 
again the name and repeated his 
former miracles. 

57. Moreover, he went and 
took two millstones, and made 
them float upon the water, and 
seating himself on them he caught 
fishes before the multitude, which 
they then did eat. 

58. When the report of this 
thing reached Jerusalem, all the 
wise and devout men began to 
weep, and to say, 

59. Who will dare to risk death 
by going and taking away from 
this bastard the Almighty name ? 
Lo, we pledge ourselves that he 
shall enjoy eternal happiness. 

60. Then Judas offered him- 
self to go ; to whom the wise 
men said. Go in peace. 

61. Therefore Judas went in 
disguise, and mingled among the 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 



367 



CHAPTER III. 



ABOUT the middle of the night 
God put the bastard into a 
deep sleep, and Judas enchanted 
him in his sleep. 

2. Then Judas entered into 
Jeshu's tent and with a knife cut 
his flesh and took out therefrom 
the sacred parchment. 

3. Jeshu awoke out of sleep 
affrighted by a great and horrid 
demon. 

4. Wherefore he said to his dis- 
ciples, Ye shall know now that 
my heavenly Father hath com- 
manded me to come to him ; I go 
because he seeth that I have no 
honor among men. 

5. Then his disciples said, What 
is to become of us ? 

6. He answered,. blessed 
ones, great will be your reward 
if ye keep my words, for ye shall 
sit at my right hand with my 
heavenly Father. 

7. Then they all lifted up their 
voices and wept. 

8. But Jeshu said. Do not weep, 
for a great reward is in store for 
your piety ; only beware lest ye 
transgress my words. 

9. To which all responded. 
Whatsoever thou commandest we 
will do, and whosoever proveth 
disobedient to thy commands, let 
him die. 

10. Then said Jeshu, If ye lis- 
ten to my words and obey my 
commands ye will treat me with 
favor and justice. As ye go to 



fight for me at Jerusalem I will 
hide myself by mingling with you 
so that the citizens of Jerusalem 
may not know me. 

11. These things Jeshu spoke 
deceitfully, that he might go to 
Jerusalem and enter the Temple 
and again obtain the knowledge 
of the name. 

12. Not in the least suspecting 
his evil intent, they all respond- 
ed. All things that thou com- 
mandest we wiU do, nor will 
we depart therefrom a finger's 
breadth, either to the right or to 
the left. 

13. Again he said, Make oath 
to me. So they all, from the 
least to the greatest, bound 
themselves by an oath. 

14. And they did not know 
that Judas was among them, be- 
cause he was not recognized. 

15. Afterwards Judas said to 
the attendants. Let us provide for 
ourselves uniform garments, so 
that no one may be able to know 
our master. 

16. This device pleased them, 
and they carried it out. 

17. Then they journeyed to Je- 
rusalem, there to celebrate the 
feast of unleavened bread, 

18. Now when the devout men 
saw Judas they rejoiced with 
great joy, and said to him, Point 
out to us, we pray thee, what re- 
maineth to be done ? 

19. (For he had secretly with- 



368 



APPENDIX. 



drawn himself and come to the 
elders and wise men of the city.) 

20. Then Judas related all that 
had happened, and how he had 
obtained the name from the bas- 
tard. 

21. Wherefore they rejoiced, 
and Judas said to them, If ye 
will obey my orders, to-morrow I 
will deliver this fellow into your 
hands. 

22. Then said the wise men, 
Hast thou enough knowledge of 
his going and coming ? 

23. Judas rephed, Everything 
is known to me. Lo, he goeth 
to the temple to attend the sacri- 
fice of the paschal victim, but I 
have sworn to him by the ten 
commandments not to deliver 
him into your hands. 

24. And he hath with him two 
thousand men. Be ye prepared 
therefore to-morrow, and know 
that the man Before whom I bow 
down in adoration, he is the bas- 
tard. Act bravely, attack his fol- 
lowers, and seize him. 

25. Simeon Ben Shetach and 
all the rest of the wise men 
danced for joy, and they prom- 
ised Judas to obey his orders. 

26. The next day came Jeshu 
with all his crowd, but Judah 
went out to meet him, and falHng 
down before him he worshiped 
him. 

27. Then all the citizens of 
Jerusalem, being well armed and 
mailed, captured Jeshu. 



28. And when his disciples saw 
him held captive, and that it was 
vain to fight, they took to their 
legs hither and yon, and gave 
themselves up to bitter weeping. 

29. Meanwhile the citizens of 
Jerusalem waxing stronger con- 
quered the bastard and his crowd, 
killing many of them, while the 
rest fled to the mountains. 

30. Then the elders of Jerusa- 
lem brought Jeshu into the city, 
and bound him to a marble pillar, 
and scourged him, saying. Where 
now are all the miracles thou hast 
wrought ? 

31. Then they took thorn 
branches, and weaving a crown 
out of them, put it on his head. 

32. Then the bastard becoming 
thirsty, said. Give me some water 
to drink. 

33. So they offered him vine- 
gar. Having tasted it he cried 
out with a loud voice, 

34. My forefather David proph- 
esied concerning me, saying. And 
they gave me gall for meat, and 
in my thirst they gave me vine- 
gar to di'ink. 

35. They answering, said, If 
thou art God, why didst thou not 
make known before thou didst 
drink that vinegar was offered to 
thee? 

36. Then they added, Thou 
dost stand now upon the verge of 
the grave, nor wilt thou at last 
convert gall into good fruit. 

37. But Jeshu weeping bitter- 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 



369 



ly, said, My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me ? 

38. Then the elders said. If 
thou art the son of God, why 
dost thou not deliver thyself out 
of our hands ? 

39. Jeshu replied, My blood is 
shed for mortals, for thus Esaias 
prophesied, And from his wounds 
we are healed. 

40. Afterward they brought 
Jeshu before the greater and less- 
er Sanhedrim, where sentence 
was pronounced that he should 
be stoned and hanged. 

41. The same day was the 
preparation for the Sabbath and 
also the preparation for the Pass- 
over. 

42. Thence taking him out to 
the place of punishment they 
stoned him to death. 

43. Then the wise men com- 
manded him to be hanged on a 
tree, but no tree was found that 
would support him, for all being 
frail were broken. 

44. His disciples seeing this, 
wailed and cried out, Behold the 
goodness of our master Jeshu, 
whom no tree will sustain. 

45. But they knew not that he 
had enchanted all wood when he 
was in possession of the name. 

46. But he knew that he would 
surely suffer the penalty of hang- 
ing, as it is written. When any 
man shall be judged to death for 
an offence and shall be put to 



death, then thou shalt hang him, 
etc. 

47. Then Judas, when he saw 
that no wood would hold him up, 
said to the wise men. Behold the 
subtlety of this fellow, for he hath 
enchanted the wood that it might 
not sustain him. 

48. But there is in my garden 
a great stem of a cabbage ; I will 
go and bring it hither; perhaps 
it will hold the body. 

49. To whom the wise men said, 
Go and do so. So Judas went at 
once and brought the stalk and on 
it Jeshu was hanged. 

50. Toward night the wise men 
said. It is not lawful for us to 
break one letter of the divine law 
in regard to this f eUow ; we must 
do to him what the law demands, 
even though he did seduce men. 

51. Therefore they buried him 
where he was stoned. 

52. Now about the middle of 
the night his disciples came and 
sat down by the grave and wept 
and mourned for him. 

53. Judas seeing this, took away 
the body and hid it in his garden 
under a brook. Diverting the 
water elsewhere he buried the 
body in the channel and then 
brought the water back. 

54. On the morrow when the 
disciples came again and sat down 
to weep, Judas said to them, "Why 
do ye weep ? Look and see if 
the buried man is there. 



370 



APPENDIX. 



55. And when they looked and 
found he was not there, the mis- 
erable crowd cried out, He is not 
in the grave, but hath ascended 
to heaven. 

56. For he foretold this him- 
self when alive, and as if concern- 
ing himself the saying was inter- 
preted, [But God will redeem my 
soul from the power of the 
grave ;] for he shall receive me ; 
Selah. 

57. Meanwhile the Queen find- 
ing out what had been done, com- 
manded the wise men of Israel 
to appear ; and when they came 
she said to them, 

58. What have ye done with 
this man whom ye have accused 
of being a sorcerer and a seducer 
of men? 

59. They answered, We have 
buried him according to the re- 
quirement of our law. 

60. Then she said, Bring him 
hither to me. 

61. And they went and sought 
for him in the grave, but did not 
find him. 

62. Then returning to the 
Queen, they said, We know not 
who hath taken him from the 
grave. 

63. The Queen answered and 
said, He is the Son of God and 
hath ascended to his Father in 
heaven ; for thus it is prophesied 
of him, For he shall receive me ; 
Selah. j 

64. Then the wise men said, 1 



Do not allow these thoughts to 
come into thy mind, for verily he 
was a sorcerer; and they gave 
proof by their own testimony 
that he was a bastard and the son 
of an adulteress. 

65. The Queen replied, Why 
do I exchange words with you in 
vain? For if ye bring him 
hither, ye shall be found inno- 
cent, but if not, none of you 
shall survive. 

66. They all responded in these 
words : Give us time that we may 
discover the upshot of this affair. 
Peradventure we may find him 
there, but if we do not succeed, 
do unto us whatever pleaseth 
thee. 

67. She allowed them three 
days' time, and they departed 
grieved at heart, lamenting, and 
not knowing what to do. 

68. Therefore they ordered a 
fast, and when the appointed 
time came and they had not 
found the body, many left Jeru- 
salem to escape the sight of the 
Queen. 

69. Among the rest went a 
certain old man named Eabbi 
Tanchuma. He in great sorrow 
wandering through the fields, 
saw Judas sitting in his own 
garden eating. 

70. Coming up to him, Eabbi 
Tanchuma said. How is this? 
Why dost thou take food when 
all the Jews fast and are in sore 
distress ? 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 



371 



71. Judas, greatly astonished, 
inquired wherefore they fasted. 

72. Babbi Tanchuma replied. 
It is because of this bastard who 
hath been hanged and buried 
near the place of stoning; he 
liath been taken away from the 
grave, and none of us know who 
hath taken him, 

73. But his worthless disciples 
declare that he hath gone up to 
heaven, and the Queen threat- 
eneth all of us Israelites with 
death unless we find him. 

74. Then Judas asked, If this 
fellow shall be found, will it 
bring safety to the Israelites ? 

75. Rabbi Tanchuma said. In- 
deed it will. 

76. Then said Judas, Come 
and I will show thee the man, 
for I took him away from the 
grave because I feared lest per- 
chance his impious followers 
might steal him from the tomb. 



and I hid him in my garden, and 
made the brook run over him. 

77. Then Rabbi Tanchuma 
hastened to the wise men of 
Israel and related the matter. 

78. Therefore they all assem- 
bled, and tying the body to a 
horse's tail, brought it and threw 
it down before the Queen, say- 
ing, Behold the man of whom 
thou hast said. He hath gone up 
to heaven. 

79. When the Queen saw him, 
she was overwhelmed with shame 
and unable to speak. 

80. Moreover, while the body 
was thus dragged about for some 
time, the hair of the head was 
pulled out. 

81. And this is the reason why 
now the hair of a monk is shaved 
off in the middle of the head ; it 
is done in remembrance of what 
happened to Jeshu, 



CHAPTER IV. 



A FTER these things the strife 
■^ between the Nazareans and 
Judeans grew so great that it 
caused a division between them, 
and a Nazarean meeting a Judean 
would kill him. 

2. The trouble increased more 
and more for thirty years, when 
the Nazareans, having increased 
to thousands and myriads, pro- 
hibited the Israelites from com- 
ing to the greater festivals in Je- 
rusalem. 



3. Then there was great distres 
among the Israelites, like what it 
was in the day when the [golden] 
calf was forged, so that no one 
knew what to do, 

4. The pernicious faith in- 
creased and spread abroad, and 
there came forth twelve men (bad 
offspring of foul ravens), who 
wandered through twelve king- 
doms and spread false doctrines 
among mankind. 

5. Some of the Israehtes fol- 



372 



APPENDIX. 



lowed them, and these being of 
high authority strengthened the 
Jeshuitic faith ; and because they 
gave themselves oiit to be Apos- 
tles of him who was hanged the 
great body of the Israelites follow- 
ed them. 

6. The wise men seeing this 
desperate state of things were 
sorely distressed, for wickedness 
abounded among the Israelites. 

7. Therefore every one turning 
to his companion said, Woe unto 
us ; what sins have we committed 
that in our time so shameful a 
thing should happen in Israel, 
such as neither we nor our ances- 
tors ever before heard of ? 

8. Therefore with great sadness 
and weeping they sat down and 
with their eyes turned toward 
heaven said : 

9. We pray thee, O Lord, God 
of heaven, to give us counsel what 
to do, for we are entirely igno- 
rant as to what ought to be done. 
We lift our eyes to thee. 

10. In the midst of the people 
of Israel innocent blood is shed on 
account of this bastard and son of 
an adulteress. 

11. Wherefore are we stretched 
on tenter hooks while the hand of 
the Nazarean prevaileth against 
us and great numbers of us are 
killed? 

12. But few of us are left, and 
on account of sins in which the 
house of Israel is implicated these 
things have happened. 

13. Do thou indeed for thy 



name's sake give us counsel what 
to do that we may be delivered 
from the wicked crowd of Naza- 
reans. 

14. When they had thus prayed, 
a certain aged man from among 
the elders, whose name was 
Simeon Kepha [Simon Cephas] 
who frequented the Holy of Ho- 
lies, said to the rest, 

15. My brethren and people, 
hear me : If ye approve my coun- 
sel I will root out these wicked men 
from the society of Israel, and 
they shall have no more any part 
or heritage with the Israelites. 

16. But it is necessary that ye 
shall take upon you the guUt of 
an offence. 

17. All responded saying, The 
sin be upon us ; carry out thy pur- 
pose. 

18. Therefore Simeon Ben Ke- 
pha went into the sanctuary and 
wrote out the Almighty name, and 
cut his flesh with a knife and 
placed it therein. 

19. Then going from the Tem- 
ple he drew forth the writing, and 
when he had learned the name he 
went away to the chief city of the 
Nazareans, 

20 And raising his voice he 
cried out. Whosoever beheveth in 
Jeshu let him come unto me, for 
I am sent by him. 

21. Soon a great multitude 
drew near to him, as many as the 
sands of the sea, and said to him, 
Show us something to confirm to 
us that thou art sent by him. 



SEPHEK TOLDOTH JESHU. 



373 



22. And when he asked what 
fiign they required of him, they 
replied, The miracles which Jeshu 
when alive performed do thou also 
exhibit to us. 

23. Therefore he commanded 
them to bring hither a leper ; and 
when they had brought him, he 
laid his hand upon him and he 
w^as healed. 

24. Again he asked them to 
bring to him a dead man, and 
when one was brought he laid his 
hand upon him and he revived 
and stood upon his feet. 

25. The wicked men seeing 
this fell down to the ground be- 
fore him, saying, Without doubt 
thou art sent by Jeshu, for when he 
was alive he did thesethingsfor us. 

26. Simeon Kepha then said, I 
am sent by Jeshu, and he hath 

' commanded me to come to you. 
Give me an oath that ye will do 
all things that I command. 

27. So at once they all exclaim- 
ed. We will do all that thou com- 
mandest. 

28. Then Simeon Kepha said. 
Know ye that he who was hanged 
was the enemy of the Israelites 
and of their law, because of the 
prophecy of Esaias, saying. Your 
new moons and appointed holi- 
days my soul hateth. 

29. Moreover, be it known to 
you, that he did not delight in 
the Israelites, even as Hosea 
prophesied. Ye are not my people. 

30. And although it be in his 
power to sweep them from the 



earth in one moment, neverthe- 
less he did not wish to utterly 
destroy them, but desired that 
there should ever be in your 
midst witnesses of his hanging 
and stoning. 

31. Moreover, he underwent 
those great sufferings and sor- 
rows that he might redeem us 
from hell. 

32. And now he exhorteth and 
commandeth you no longer to ill- 
treat any of the Judeans ; but if 
a Judean saith to a Nazarean, Go 
with me one mile, let him go 
with him two miles. 

33. And if a Judean striketh a 
Nazarean on his left cheek, let 
him turn to him the right also ; 
that in this world they may have 
their reward, but in the world to 
come may be punished in hell. 

3'4r. If ye do these things, ye 
shall be worthy to live with him 
in his abode. 

35. Lo this also he requireth of 
you, that ye do not celebrate the 
feast of the Passover, but that ye 
hold sacred the day on which he 
died. 

36. And that instead of the 
feast of Pentecost ye keep holy 
the fortieth day after the stoning, 
in which he ascended to heaven. 

37. Instead of the feast of 
tabernacles let the day of the na- 
tivity be made holy ; and on the 
eighth day afterwards observe the 
memory of his circumcision. 

38. All responded to these 
words, Whatsoever thou sayest 



374 



APPENDIX. 



we will do; remain with us 
now. 

39. To which he said, I will 
abide with you if ye will allow 
me to abstain from all food ac- 
cording to his precept, and only 
eat the bread of misery and drink 
the water of sorrow. 

40. But ye must build me a 
tower in the midst of the city on 
which I may sit even till the day 
of my death. 

41. The people answered, We 
will do as thou sayest. 

42. Therefore they built a 
tower and put him thereon ; and 
every day they brought him his 
allowance of miserable bread and 
scanty water even up to the hour 
of his death, he staying there all 
the time. 

43. For truly he served the 
God of our fathers Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, and composed 
many beautiful hymns, which he 
published through all the region 
of Israel, that they might be a 
perpetual monument to him ; and 
he repeated all the hymns to his 
masters. 

44. This Simeon lived on that 
tower six years, and when he 
came to die he commanded that 
he should be buried within it; 
and that request they obeyed. 

45. Afterwards they devised a 
most abominable fraud, and at 
this very time that tower is tr be 
seen at Rome, and they call it 
Peter — that is, the name of a 



stone, because he sat on a stone 
even to the day of his death. 

46. After the death of Rabbi 
Simeon Kepha there arose a man 
named Elias, a wise man but of 
corrupt mind, who went to Rome 
and publicly said : 

47. Know ye that Simeon 
Kepha hath deceived you, for 
your Jeshu gave to me his com- 
mands, saying, Go and tell them. 

48. Let no one believe that I 
despise the Law ; for whoever 
wishes to be initiated by circum- 
cision I will allow him. 

49. But he who refuses to ob- 
serve this, let him be plunged in 
foul water ; nor indeed if he ab- 
stains from this shall he incur 
danger. 

50. This also he requireth ; that 
not on the seventh day but the 
first on which the heaven and the 
earth were created ye shall wor- 
ship. 

51. And he added many other 
bad instructions. 

52. But the people said. Con- 
firm to us by a miracle that Jeshu 
hath sent thee. 

53. And he said. What miracle 
do ye expect ? 

54. Scarcely had he spokea 
when a stone fell from a huge 
wall and crushed his head. 

55. So perish all thine enemies, 
O Lord ; but let those who love 
thee be even as the sun when it 
shineth in its strength. 

Finis, finis, finis. 



NOTES. 

Just as we were about to send to the printer our com- 
pleted Notes on the Toldoth Jeshu, we found a book en- 
titled " Lost and Hostile Gospels," by the Eev. S. Baring 
Gould, London, 1874, containing an English translation 
of a part not only of the Toldoth of Wagenseil, but of the 
later Toldoth of Huldrich, in 1705. Mr. Gould's trans- 
lation seems to be made directly from the Hebrew, of 
which we have but little knowledge ; therefore we have 
made a few amendments to our translation from his. But 
moreover, we have greatly enlarged our Notes from Mr. 
Gould's work. 

Chronology. 

In the year 671 of the fourth millenary [of the world] in the days 
of Janneus the king. (Ch. i, 1.) 

This is according to Wagenseil's translation: Anno 
sexcentisimo septuagesimo primo, quarti {ah orbe con- 
dito) millenarii. Mr. Gould translates it, " In the year 
4671," instead of 3671, as the Latin certainly reads. Fur- 
thermore, Mr. Gould says that the year 4671 would be 
910 B. c, whereas Alexander Janneus began to reign 106 
B. 0. And this alleged chronological blunder he says 
proves that this " hostile Gospel " is a late forgery, be- 
cause, as he affirms, " this manner of reckoning was only 
introduced among the Jews in the 4th century after 
Christ, and did not become common till the 12th cen- 
tury." 

With due deference to the learned critic, we submit 
whether it is likely that the writer of the legend would 
have made such a prodigious blunder. Nor are we in- 

375 



376 SEPHEK TOLDOTH JESHU. 

clined to believe that there is any error at all in this date. 
Our interpretation is, that while the writer adopted the 
Jewish reckoning of " the fourth millenary of the world," 
he used for the precise date the Olympiad of Iphitus, 
which was instituted 884 b. c, and prevailed till 238 a. d. 
(Helvicus's Chron. Hist., 1687.) The year 671 of that era 
(^. 6., the third year of the 168th Olympiad) would be 106 
B. c, the very first year of Alexander Janneus, who reigned 
over Jewry, according to Josephus, 27 years, and whose 
reign ended between 81 and 78 b. c, according to various 
authorities. This Greek era would be quite likely to be 
adopted by a Jew, while the Roman era would not. Be- 
sides, the year 671 a. u. c. (82 b. c.) would make Jeshu a 
mere boy at his death, while the year 671 of the era of 
Nabonassar would fall just this side of the reign of Jan- 
neus, and make Jeshu a mere infant, instead of an adult 
of about 30 years or more when he died. Therefore we 
strongly suspect that the author adopted the Olympiad 
of Iphitus. 

The Jewish Talmud tells us that in the reign of this 
same Janneus, who persecuted the Rabbins, Jesus, then 
a young man, went to Alexandria, in Egypt, with Rabbi 
Joshua Ben Perachiah, and that after peace was restored 
they both returned. It is well known that the Jews place 
the birth of Jesus a century before the Christian era. 
(Gibbon's Rome, xvi. Note 31. Basnage's Hist. Jews, B. 
iv, ch. 38.) 

Misfortune to 'Israel. 
A great misfortune happened to the enemies (?/ Israel, (i, 1.) 
The misfortune seems to have happened to Israel rather 
than their enemies. The purpose of the writer in insert- 
ing " enemies " is not clear. Tit per sv^rj^oav sic loquitur^ 
says Wagenseil in parentheses. 



NOTES. 377 

Joseph Pandera, Mary, and Jesus. 

There was a certain idle and worthless debauchee named Joseph 

Pandera He lived at Bethlehem of Judea. Near by there lived 

a widow who had a daughter named Miriam, of whom mention is 
several times made in the Talmud as a dresser of women's hair. 
(1, 2-5, f.; 

In the Talmud we read of a Jesus, the son of Pandira 
and of Mary, otherwise called Stada, who transgressed 
the laws of chastity and separated from her husband. 
This Mary is several times mentioned in the Talmud as 
A plaiter of women's hair. 

Mr. Gould points out that this reference is not found 
in the Mishna, which he says was compiled a. d. 219, but 
in the Gemara, and that the Jerusalem Gemara was 
completed a. d. 390, and the Babylonian Gemara about 
A. D. 500. This would seem to indicate a later date for 
the composition of the Toldoth Jeshu than that of the 
Gemara. But it should be borne in mind that all ancient 
manuscripts are full of interpolations, so that we can 
never be absolutely certain of the integrity of any partic- 
ular part. 

About A. D. 200 (some suppose earlier, others later) 
Celsus wrote a work against Christianity, entitled Logos 
Alethes, " True Doctrine " or " Word." All we know of 
its contents is what Origen has transmitted to us in a 
large volume of refutation. Celsus was familiar with 
gospel- stories, like ours, but not identical. He introduces 
a Jew, who has a personal discussion with Jesus. 

"In the first place he accuses him of having invented his birth 
from a virgin, and upbraids him with being born in a certain Jewish 
village of a poor woman of the country, who gained her subsistence 
by spinning, and who was turned out of doors by her husband, a 
carpenter by trade, because she was convicted of adultery; that 
after being driven away by her husband and wandering about for a 
time, she disgracefully gave birth to Jesus, an illegitimate child, 



378 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

■who having hired himseK out as a servant in Egypt, on account of 
his poverty, and having there acquired some miraculous powers, on 
which the Egyptians greatly pride themselves, returned to his own 
country highly elated on account of them, and by means of these 
proclaimed himself a God." (Orig. agt. Cels., i, 28.) 

The father of the illegitimate child is afterwards 
described as "a soldier named Panthera," (i, 32.) 

Celsus, by the way, discredits the story of the massacre 
of the infauts by Herod, of the dove alighting- on Jesus 
at his baptism, and of the resurrection. 

Origen is indignant at Celsus for calling Jesus a car- 
penter, and says that " in none of the gospels current in 
the churches is Jesus himself ever described as being a 
carpenter," (vi, 36.) Oh yes he is, in Mark vi, 3, which 
reads, " Is not this the carpenter % " Did Origen overlook 
that passage, or was it wanting in the early editions ? 

Basnage in his " History of the Jews " reviews the 
Toldoth Jeshu of Wagenseil and also the later one of 
Huldrich. In regard to the genealogy of Jesus he says : 

" Celsus is excusable in having upbraided Christians with the 
virgin being forced by a soldier called Pandera, but how can St. 
Epiphanius [a. d. 367] be excused, who assures us that Jesus was 
the son of Jacob surnamed Panthera ? Or how can John of Da- 
mascus [a. d. 760] be justified, who is indeed of another opinion, 
but for all that makes him come into the genealogy of J, Christ ? 
for he maintains that Panthera was great-grandfather to Mary, and 
Barpanther her grandfather. Kaban Maur [a. d. 874] doth also 
speak of these two men ; and the learned Grotius [a. d. 164:0] made 
an advantage of this tradition, as if it had been well grounded, that 
BO the romance invented about the virgin might appear more prob- 
able. And indeed the name given here to the soldier, Panther, is 
a Greek one ; how then can it be introduced into the genealogy of 
J. Christ as the surname of a family ? There is good reason to be- 
lieve that it was invented only to make the birth of the Messiah 
more odious. The panther, or male of the panther, is a savage and 
cruel beast that couples with a lioness, and from thence proceeds 
the leopard The manuscript of a Rabbi is also quoted, wherein 



NOTES. 37^ 

it is said that as the leopard is produced by the mixture of different 
species, so J. Christ sprung from a Greek soldier and a Jewish 
■woman. Those who reckon Panthera among Christ's ancestors, fall 
into the snare which the most inveterate enemies of the Christian 
religion have laid for them." (B. iv, ch. 27.) 

Epiphanius (Agt. Heres., iii) gives the genealogy of 
Jesus thus : 

Jacob, called Panther = ? 

I 

Mary = Joseph Cleophas 

Jesus 

Decency. 
Turn ea homine ait ; ect. (i, 11-15.) 

Decency forbids the translation of these few lines, 
although there are many passages in Holy Writ that are 
worse. 

The Boy Jesus Before the Senators. 

And it came to pass by and by that he met the senators of the 
Sanhedrim at Jerusalem. It was then the custom that whoever 
met those senators should cover his head and bow down. But this 
boy as he walked past them bared his head, and touching his fore- 
head saluted the principal only, (i, 24-26 f.) 

The same story is told in the Talmud thus : 
" As once the Elders sat at the gate there passed two boys before 
them. One uncovered his head, the other did not. Then said Eabbi 
Elieser, The latter is certainly a bastard ; but Rabbi Jehoshua said. 
He is a son of an adulteress. Akiba said. He is both a bastard and 
a son of an adulteress. They said to him. How canst thou oppose 
the opinion of thy companions ? He answered, I will prove what I 
have said. Then he went to the boy's mother, who was sitting in 
the market selling fruit, and said to her, My daughter, if you will 
tell me the truth I will promise you eternal life. She said to him, 
swear to me. And he swore with his lips, but in his heart he did 
not ratify the oath." 

The Kabbi then learned what he desired to know, and 



38a 



TOLDOTH JESHU. 



came back and told his associates that his assertion 
about the boy was proven true. 

The Two Brazen Lions. 

" But when the wise men feared that perchance studious youths 
might learn this name and bring destruction upon the world (which 
calamity may God forbid) they made by magic two brazen lions, 
and placed them at the entrance of the Holy of Holies, one on the 
right and the other on the left." (i, 37 f.) 

There being no historical confirmation of the existence 
of these two brazen lions — though the Talmud contains 
a similar account of a sacred and magical name inscribed 
on a stone in the Sanctuary and guarded by two dogs, 
and in another version of this story it is dogs — Grotius 
discredits the whole story. But the legal msbxim. falsus 
in unofalsus in omnibus, is not yet accepted by theologians 
as applicable to ancient Scriptures. 

How Jesus Became a Magician. 

And coming secretly to Jerusalem he went into the Temple and 
there learned the sacred letters, (i, 39 f . ) 

We have already noticed the statement of the Talmud 
that Jesus when a young man went to Egypt. In the 
Babylonian Gemara it is related that when King Alexan- 
der Janneus persecuted the Rabbis, Rabbi Jehoshua, son 
of Perachias, fled with his disciple Jesus to Alexandria 
in Egypt, and there both received instruction in Egyptian 
magic. On their way back to Judea both were hospita- 
bly lodged by a woman. Next day, as Jehoshua and his 
disciple were continuing their journey, the master praised 
the hospitality of their hostess, whereupon his disciple 
remarked that she was not only a hospitable, but a comely 
woman. Now, as it was forbidden to Rabbis to look with 
admiration on female beauty, the Rabbi Jehoshua was so 
angry with his disciple that he pronounced on him ex- 



NOTES. 381 

communication and a curse. Jesus after this separated 
from his master and gave himself up wholly to the study 
of magic. 

The above is taken verba,tim from Mr. Gould's work. 
But we find in Dr. Lardner's works, a further statement 
that the Egyptian priests, in order to keep a monopoly 
of the art, searched everybody who went away, lest he 
should carry away with him the secret charm. But Jesus 
cut open his flesh and hid the charm under his skin. 
Thus it was that he became a conjurer in Judea. 

In the practice of the art by Jesus, the following in- 
stance is related by the Jerusalem Gemara : 

*'The sister's son of Rabbi Jose swallowed poison, or something 
deadly. There came to him a man and conjured him in the name 
of Jeshu, son of Pandeira, and he was healed or made easy. But 
when he went forth it was said to him, How hast thou healed him ? 
He answered, By using such and such words. Then he (E. Jose) 
said to him, It had been better for him to have died than to have 
heard this name. And so it was with him, (^. ^., the boy died.)" 

Another instance is related where a pupil of Jesus 
sought to cure a serpent's bite, but was forbidden by a 
Rabbi : 

" Eleaser, the son of Damah, was bitten by a serpent. There 
came to him James, a man of the town of Sechania, to cure him in 
the name of Jeshu, son of Pandeira ; but the Kabbi Ismael would 
not suffer it, but said, It is not permitted to thee, son of Damah. 
But he (James) said, Suffer me and I will bring an argument 
against thee which is lawful. But he would not suffer him." 

The Lions Roared. 
As he was coming out of the door the lions roared. (1, 43.) 
Wagenseil has allatrabant canes, " the dogs barked ;" 
but in the Hebrew it is mnxn, " the lions." 



382 sephee toldoth jeshu. 

Jesus at Nob. 

*' And it came to pass that when Jeshu was come to Nob, which 
is near Jerusalem, he said to them, Have ye not here a good and 
comely ass?" (ii, 1, f.) 

Nob was a very ancient and sacred town overlooking 
Jerusalem. It is mentioned in 1 Sam., xxi, 1 ; xxii, 9, 
11, 19 ; Neh. xi, 32 ; Is. x, 32, and Jos. Ant. vi, 12. 

In the Gospels Jesus is said to have mounted the ass 
at Bethphage, by the side of the Mount of Olives, near 
Bethany. Neither place is mentioned in the Old Testa- 
ment or Apocrypha. Bethphage cannot be located, but 
there is now a wretched little hamlet called JEl-AzariyeK 
(after Lazarus,) which is believed to answer to Bethany. 
It is on the east slope of the mountain, about 18 furlongs 
distant from the walls of Jerusalem. The 4th Evangelist 
located it 15 furlongs distant. This is a near enough 
agreement, were it not that the 3d Evangelist makes 
Bethany the place of ascension, (xxiv, 50, 51,) and then 
in Acts i, 12, says (or at least implies) that it was distant 
from Jerusalem only "a Sabbath day's journey," i. e., 6 fur- 
longs instead of 15 or 18. 

But the uncertainty about places mentioned in the 
Gospels is not confined to these two. Consult Smith's 
Bible Dictionary, and see how doubtful is the identifica- 
tion of ^non, Arimathea, Bethabara, (called Bethany in 
all the oldest manuscripts of the 4th Gospel,) Bethesda, 
Bethsaida, Capernaum, Cana, Chorazin, Dalmanutha, Em- 
maus, Gadara, Gethsemane, Golgotha, Magdala, Salim, 
and Sychar. There was an ancient Emmaus, (1 Mace, 
iii, 40,) now called Amwas, situated about 20 miles north- 
west of Jerusalem. All the early Christian writers iden- 
tified it with the Emmaus of Luke xxiv, 13 ; but no one 
now pretends to be able to locate any such place 60 fur- 
longs distant from Jerusalem. In short, the geography 



NOTES. 383 

of Palestine is so confused and false in tlie Gospels as to 
make it pretty certain that the writers knew little of that 
country. 

Not Queen Helena but Alexandra. 

(She was Queen Helena, the wife of King Janneus mentioned 
above ; she reigned after the death of her husband. She is other- 
wise called Oleina, and had a son Nunbasus, the king, otherwise 
called Hyrcanus, who was slain by his subordinate Herod.) (ii, 7.) 

This parenthesis is probably an interpolation in whole 
or in part. The widow of Alexander Janneus was named 
Alexandra. She reigned nine years after the death of her 
husband. She had two sons named Hyrcanus and Aris- 
tobulus, both of whom reigned interruptedly after her, 
and Hyrcanus was killed by Herod the Great. The in- 
terpolater has confounded Queen Alexandra with Helena, 
wife of Monobasus, king of Adiabene, a province of As- 
syria, some 600 miles distant from Jerusalem. Her hus- 
band was succeeded by her two sons, Izates and Mono- 
basus. She embraced the Jewish faith, and visited Jeru- 
salem about A. D. 45. (Jos. Ant., B. xx, ch. 2, 4) 

Gall eok Meat. 
Nor wilt thou at last convert gall into good fruit, (iii, 36.) 
The Hebrew word here translated " gall " is not tyxn, 
as in verse 34, but ')p)r\, a word not found in the Hebrew 
lexicon. But Wagenseil has translated it fel, "gall." 
Mr. Gould has avoided the obscurity of the passage by 
omitting certain words, and simply rendering it "and 
changest not." 

The Preparation for the Sabbath and Passover. 

The same day was the preparation for the Sabbath and also the 
preparation for the Passover, (iii, 41.) 

This agrees with the 4th Gospel, which makes the Sab- 



384 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

bath and Passover come together on the day followingf 
the crucifixion, and disagrees with the three Synoptics 
which describe the event as taking place on the Passover 
day. (See p. 10 ff.) It also agrees with the Talmud in 
regard to the next day being the Passover and the Sab- 
bath. 

Stoning and Hanging. 

Thence taking him out to the place of punishment, they stoned 
him to death. Then the wise men commanded him to be hanged on 
a tree, (iii, 42, 43 f.) 

The Babylonian Gemara says : 

*' On the rest-day before the Sabbath they crucified Jeshu. For 
forty days did the herald go before him and proclaim aloud, He is 
to be stoned to death because he has practised evil and has led the 
Israelites astray, and provoked them to schism. Let any one who 
can bring evidence of his innocence come forward and speak ! But 
as nothing was produced which could establish his innocence, he 
was crucified on the rest-day of the Passah, (^, e. , the day before 
the Passover.)" 

The same Gemara relates that Jeshu was stoned and 
hanged in the city of Lud, (Lydda, 22 miles northwest of 
Jerusalem,) on the eve of the Passover, and adds the fol- 
lowing : 

"Ula said, Will you not judge him to have been the son of de- 
struction because he is a seducer of the people? For the Merciful 
says, (Deut. xiii, 8,) Thou shalt not spare him, neither shalt thou 
conceal him. But I, Jesus, am heir to the kingdom. Therefore 
(the herald) went forth proclaiming that he was to be stoned because 
he had done an evil thing, and had seduced the people and led them 
into schism. And (Jeshu) went forth to be stoned with stones be- 
cause he had done an evil thing, and had seduced the people and 
led them into schism." 

The same Gemara gives the following perplexing ac- 
count of Jeshu : 

"They stoned the son of Stada in Lud, (Lydda,) and crucified 
him on the eve of the Passover. This Stada's son was Pandira's 



NOTES. 385 

son. Eabbi Chasda said Stada's husband was Pandira's master, 
namely Paphos, son of Jehuda. But how was Stada his mother? 
His {i. e. , Pandira's) mother was a woman's hair-dresser. As they 
say in Pombeditha, (the Babylonish school by the Euphrates,) this 
one went astray (S'tath-da) from her husband." 

The Gloss or Paraphrase on this is : 

"Stada's son was not the son of Paphos, son of Jehuda. No ; as 
Rabbi Chasda observed, Paphos had a servant named Pandira. 
Well, what has that to do with it ? Tell us how it came to pass that 
this son was born to Stada. Well, it was on this wise : Miriam, the 

mother of Pandira, used to dress Stada's hair, and Stada became 

a mother by Pandira, son of Miriam. As they say in Pombeditha, 
Stada by name and Stada by nature." 

Stem of a Cabbage. 

But there is in my garden a great stem of a cabbage ; I will go 

and bring it hither ; perhaps it will hold the body So Judas went 

at once and brought the stalk, and on it Jeshu was hanged, (iii, 48, 
49.) 

It is not certain what kind of a plant this was. Wag- 
enseil has hrassica caulis ingens, " great stem of a cab- 
bage." The Hebrew word in the first instance is nSp, and 
in the second y\^2. We hardly dare suspect that it was 
the stalk of a Jerusalem artichoke. 

The Jewish Law About Hanging. 

It is not lawful for us to break one letter of the divine law in re- 
gard to this fellow, (iii, 50.) 

The law forbade that any one who was hanged should 
remain on the tree all night. 

The Twelve Apostles. 

The pernicious faith increased and spread abroad, and there came 

forth twelve men who wandered through twelve kingdoms and 

spread false doctrines among mankind, (iv, 4.) 

The Babylonian Gemara contains the following curious 
passage concerning the five disciples of Jeshu Ben Stada : 



386 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

*' Jeshu had five disciples, Matthai, Nakai, Netzer, and Boni, and 
also Thoda. They brought Matthai (to the tribunal) to pronounce 
sentence of death against him. He said, ShaU Matthai suffer when 
it is written, (Ps. xlii, 3,) TID, When shall I come to appear before 
the presence of God? They repHed, Shall not Matthai die when it 
is written, "TID, When shall he die and his name perish ? They pro- 
duced Nakai. He said, Shall Nakai 'J^pJ die ? Is it not written. The 
innocent ""pJl slay thou not? (Ex. xxiii, 7.) They answered him, 
Shall not Nakai die when it is written. In the secret places does he 
murder the innocent ? (Ps. x, 8.) Then they brought forth Netzer, 
he said unto them, Shall Netzer "^V J be slain ? Is it not written, 
(Is. xi, 1,) A branch "lyjl shall grow out of his roots ? They replied. 
Shall not Netzer die because it is written, (Is. xiv, 19,) Thou art 
cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch ? They brought 
forth Boni ''Jp. He said. Shall Boni die the death when it is 
written, (Ex. iv, 22,) 1J3, My son, my first born, is Israel? They 
replied. Shall not Boni die the death when it is written, (Ex. v, 23,) 
So I will slay thy son, thy first-born son? They led out Thoda 
rrnn. He said, ShaU Thoda die when it is written, (Ps. c, 1,) A 
psalm min 7 of thanksgiving ? They replied. Shall not Thoda die 
when it is written, (Ps. 1, 23,) He that sacrificeth praise, he honor- 
eth me ? " , 

Origen accuses Celsus of ignorance as to the number 
of the apostles, quoting him thus : 

" Jesus having gathered around him ten or eleven persons of no- 
torious character, the very wickedest of tax-gatherers and sailors, 
fled in company with them from place to place, and obtained his 
hving in a shameful and importunate manner." (i, 62) 

In another place Origen quotes Celsus as saying that 
Jesus " gained over to himself only ten sailors and tax- 
gatherers of the most worthless character, and not even 
the whole of these." (ii, 46.) 

Simon Kepha. 

A certain aged man from among the elders, whose name was 
Simeon Kepha Simeon Ben Kepha. (iv, 14, 18.) 



NOTES. 387 

Simeon Keplia and Simeon Ben (the son of) Kepha are 
undoubtedly the same in this story. And here a sus- 
picion arises that Paul was contemporary with this same 
Kepha ; but we reserve this point for another note. 

"The Chief City or the Nazareans," (iv, 19.) 

What city was this? In Mrs. Blavatsky's profound 
work, " Isis Unveiled," it is called Babylon, apparently 
quoting from this same Toldoth Jeshu — perhaps another 
version. Babylon was a greater Hebrew centre than 
Jerusalem, and the Babylonian Talmud far exceeds in 
volume the Jerusalem Talmud. 

It is doubtful whether there was a place called Nazareth 
until the 4th century ; but Jesus Christ and Paul are 
both called Nazareans in the New Testament. (See p. 
40, f.) 

St. Peter a Myth. 

Afterwards they devised a most abominable fraud, and at this 
very time that tower is to be seen at Kome, and they call it Peter — 
that is, the name of a stone, because he sat on a stone even to the 
day of his death, (iv, 45.) 

Petra and JPetros in Greek mean the same as Keph in 
Hebrew and Kepha in Chaldee and Syriac, namely, a 
rock or stone. Keph is a rare word, occurring only 
twice in the Hebrew Bible. (Job xxx, 6 ; Jer. iv, 29.) It 
is vain to argue that because Kepha means stone it is 
therefore proper to translate it Petros, just as ha 
Mashiach is rendered ho Christos, or as royal titles are 
sometimes translated, for example, William le taciturne^ 
(the Silent,) Philip le bel, (the Fair,) &c. These are not 
surnames, but epithets ; but even allowing them to be 
proper names, they all have the definite article prefixed, 
which neither Kepha nor Petros ever has. However, 
whether Kepha was Simon's surname before he met 



388 SEPHEK TOLDOTH JESHU. 

Jesus, as Matthew and Luke tell us, or a name given to 
him by Jesus, as Mark and John say, he was never called 
''the Rock." 

The first Epistle of Kepha, translated JPetros in the 
Greek version of the New Testament, seems to have been 
written from Babylon, (v, 3,) which commentators have 
vainly sought to metamorphose into Rome. There is no 
possible clue to the date of the Epistle. Its theology is 
Pauline, and it may have been written more than a cen- 
tury earlier than the date assigned to it by the church- 
men. Nor is so early a date at all incompatible with the 
frequent use of the name Jesus Christ, for the Septuagint 
had rendered that name familiar to all Greek speaking 
Jews more than 200 years b. c. lesous was the Greek 
for Joshua or Jehoshua, which meant Savior; and 
Ghristos was the Greek for Mashiach, meaning anointed^ 
a word of frequent occurrence in the Old Testament. A 
real or pretended Savior would therefore be called in 
Greek lesous, and in Hebrew Jehoshua, (the name of our 
Jeshu before he was outlawed by the Sanhedrim ;) and 
his royal title must needs be in Hebrew 3Iashiach, and 
in Greek Christos. 

In chapter xii of our Revelations we announced that 
we expected to prove that Paul knew no Apostle Peter. 
In the next chapter we showed that what the book of 
Acts says about Paul and Peter is at total and irreconcila- 
ble variance with Paul's own account in Galatians. In 
chapter xiv we pointed out the forgery of the name Petros 
three times in Galatians by the post-Nicene scribes, and 
we argued presumptively that in the only two remaining 
occurrences of Petros, in Gal. ii, 7, 8, it was an earlier 
forgery. 

Some time afterwards we discovered that the mention 
of Peter in Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians was a 



I 



NOTES. 389 

mistake, and pointed out how it happened to be made. 
(Chap, xxiv.) Still later we made the further discovery 
that there was no Peter in the Gospels or Pauline Epis- 
tles of the ancient Peshito version of the New Testament 
written in the vernacular of Palestine. (Chap, xxix.) 
Later still, on examining the recently discovered ancient 
Syriac documents, we found no Peter, but always Kepha, 
whether issuing Apostolic ordinances at Jerusalem, a. d. 
29, performing cures in Persia a. d. 40, or demolishing 
Simon Magus at Kome a. d. 43 or 68. (Chaps, xxxiii, 
XXXV, xxxvi.) 

Thus, step by step, in our researches our hypothesis 
that Peter was a myth was proven to be true. The con- 
ceded existence of a Kepha did not affect the question as 
to the existence of a Galilean Peter in the 1st century, 
such as the Gospels describe. Every trace, whether his- 
torical or legendary, down to the latter part of the 2d 
century, was of Kepha, not Petros. We therefore estab- 
lished the fact, as completely as the evidence would allow, 
that Peter was a Roman forgery. That question was 
settled and our work was about ended, when to our 
astonishment we found in this Toldoth Jeshu story not 
only that the Roman Peter was a myth, but an " abomina- 
ble fraud." 

A more remarkable instance in historical researches of 
a priori reasoning confirmed by a posteriori proof, we 
cannot well imagine. Even if there be not a word of 
truth in the Toldoth Jeshu story, nobody will pretend 
that it was forged by Antichrist a. d. 1878. 

The Talmud and the Toldoth Jeshu. 

In the preceding Notes we have presented all the ref- 
>erences in the Talmud to Jesus or Jeshu, which are sup- 
posed to relate to Jesus Christ or to Jeshu the son of 



390 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

Mary and Joseph Pandera. For these extracts from the 
Gemara we are indebted to the Kev. S. Baring Gould. 
After gleaning everything that he could find he says : 

*' This is all that the Gemara teUs us about Jeshu, son of Stada 
or Pandira. It behooves us now to consider whether he can have 
been the same person as our Lord. 

" That there really lived such a person as Jeshu, son of Stada 
or Pandira, and that he was a disciple of Rabbi Jehoshua Ben 
Perachia, I see no reason to doubt. That he escaped from Alexan- 
der Janneus with his master into Egypt, and there studied magical 
arts ; and that he returned after awhile to Judea and practised his 

necromantic arts in his own country, is also not improbable 

That Jeshu, son of Pandira, was stoned to death in accordance with 
the law for having practised magic is also probable. " 

***♦♦*** 

*'The Rabbis of the Gemara period [a. d. 219-500,] had begun^ 
like the Jew Celsus, to confuse Jesus, son of Mary, with Jeshu the 
sorcerer. Their tradition told of a Jeshu who was stoned ; Christian 
tradition of a Jesus who was crucified. They combined the punish- 
ments and fused the persons into one. But this was done very clum- 
sily. It is possible that more than one Jehoshua has contributed to 
form the story of Jeshu in the Talmud. For his mother Stada is said 
to have been married to Paphos, son of Jehuda. Now Paphos Ben 
Jehuda is a Rabbi whose name occurs several times in the Talmud 
as an associate of the illustrious Rabbi Akiba, who lived after the 
destruction of Jerusalem and had his school at Bene-Barah, To 
him the first composition of the Mishna arrangements is ascribed. 
As a follower of the pseudo-Messiah Barcochab, in the war of Tra- 
jan and Adrian, he sealed his life of enthusiasm with a martyr's 
death a. d. 135, at the capture of Bether." 

******** 

" We naturally wonder how it is that Stada, the mother of Jeshu, 
who was born about b. o. 120, should be represented as the wife of 
Paphos, son of Jehuda, who died about a. d. 130, two centuries and 
a half later. It is quite possible that this Paphos lost his wife, who 
eloped from him with one Pandira, and became mother of a son 
named Jehoshua. The name Jehoshua or Jesus is common enough. ' *' 
* * ** * * * « 

" I think that probably the story grew up thus : A certain Je- 
hoshua, in the reign of Alexander Janneus, went down into Egypt 



NOTES. 391 

and there learnt magic. He returned to Judea, where he practised 
it, but was arrested at Lydda, and executed by order of the San- 
hedrim by being stoned to death. 

" But who was this Jehoshua ? Tradition was silent. However, 
there was a floating recollection of a Jehoshua born of one Stada, 
wife of Paphos, son of Jehuda, the companion of Akiba. The two 
Jehoshuas were confounded together. Thus stood the story when 
Origen [a. d. 230-250] wrote against Celsus [who flourished] a. d. 
176, [or perhaps later.] 

" By A. D. 500 it had grown considerably. The Jew of Celsus had 
already fused Jesus of Nazareth with the other two Jehoshuas. This 
led to the Kabbis of the Gemara relating that Jehoshua was both 
stoned and crucified. 

*' I do not say that this certainly is the origin of the story as it 
appears in the Talmud, but it bears on the face of it strong likeli- 
hood that it is. Jehoshua, who went into Egypt, could not have 
been stoned to death after the destruction of Jerusalem and the re- 
volt of Barcochab, for then the Jews had not the power of life and 
death in their hands. The execution must have taken place long 
before ; yet the Rabbis whose names appear in connection with the 
story — always excepting Jehoshua son of Perachia — all belong to 
the 2d century after Christ. 

" The solution I propose is simple, and it explains what other- 
wise would be inexplicable. If it be a true solution, it proves that 
the Jews in a. d. 500, when the Babylonian Gemara was completed, 
had no traditions whatever concerning Jesus of Nazareth. " 
******** 

"Learned Jewish writers have emphatically denied that the Jeshu 

of the Talmud is the Jesus of the Gospels Rabbi Salman Zevi 

entered into the question with great care in a pamphlet, and pro- 
duced ten reasons for concluding that the Jeshu of the Talmud was 
not the Jesus, son of Mary of the Evangelists." 

******* 

* ' Who were the authors of the books called Toldoth Jeshu, the 
two counter-Gospels, is not known. Justin Martyr, who died a. d. 
163, [or later] speaks of the blasphemous writings of the Jews about 
Jesus ; but that they contained traditions of the life of the Savior 
can hardly be believed in presence of the silence of Josephus and 
Justus, and the ignorance of the Jew of Celsus. " 

******* 

'* Neither (of the two versions of Toldoth JeshuJ can boast of an 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

antiquity greater than at the outside of the 12th century. [?] It is 
difficult to say with certainty which is the earlier of the two. Prob- 
ably both came into use about the same time ; the second certainly 
in Germany, [?] for it speaks of Worms in the German empire. 

"According to the first, Jeshu (Jesus) was born in the year of the 
world 4671 (b. o. 910) in the reign of Alexander Janneus (b. c. 106- 
79) ! He was the son of Joseph Pandira and Mary, a widow's 
daughter, the sister of Jehoshua, who was affianced to Jochanan, 
disciple of Simeon Ben Shetach ; and Jeshu became the pupil of 
Eabbi Elchanan. Mary is of the tribe of Juda. 

"According to the second, Jeshu was born in the reign of Herod 
the Proselyte, (47 — 4 b. c.) and was the son of Mary, daughter of 
Kalpus, and sister of Simeon son of Kalpus by Joseph Pandira, 
who carried her off from her husband, Papus, son of Jehuda. 
Jeshu was brought up by Joshua son of Perachia, in the days of 
the illustrious Rabbi Akiba. Mary is of the tribe of Benjamin. 

' ' The anachronisms of both accounts are so gross as to prove [?] 
that they were drawn up at a very late date and by Jews singularly 
ignorant of the chronology of their history. 

"In the first, Mary is affianced to Jochanan, disciple of Simeon 
Ben Shetach. Now Schimon or Simeon, son of Scheta, is a well- 
known character. He is said to have strangled eighty witches in 
one day, and to have been the companion of Jehuda Ben Tabai. 
He flourished b. o. 70. 

' ' In the second Life we hear of Mary being the sister of Simeon 
Ben Kalpus (Chelptu.) [?] He also is a well-known Rabbi, of whom 
many miracles are related. He lived in the time of the Emperor 
Antoninus, before whom he stood as a disciple when an old man 
(cir., A. D. 160.) 

" In this also the Rabbi Akiba is introduced. Akiba died a. d. 
135. Also Rabbi Jehoshua Ben Levi. Now this Rabbi's date can 
also be fixed with tolerable accuracy. He was the teacher of the 
Rabbi Jochanan, who compiled the Jerusalem Talmud. His date 
is A. D. 120. 

"We have thus, in the two Lives of Jeshu, the following person- 
ages introduced as contemporaries : 



NOTES. 393 



I. II. 



Jeshu (born a. m. 4721) b. c. 910 
Alexander Janneus....B. o. 106-79 
R. Simeon Ben Shetach...B. c.70 



Herod the Great ...b. c. 47-4 

E. Jeh. Ben Peracliia...c. b. o. 90 

R. Akiba c. a. d. 135 

R, Papus Ben Jebuda c. a. d. .140 
R. Jehoshua Ben Levi c. a. d. 120 

We think the learned critic assumes too much in regard 
to the coincidence of names. 

Furthermore, there is some confusion of dates as well 
as names. The author says in regard to Paphos Ben 
Jehuda, first, that he died about a. d. 150, (which we 
changed to 130, so as to agree with the context;) and then 
in the above table, about a. d. 140. 

Again, the impression conveyed on page 390 above is, 
that Paphos Ben Jehuda began the composition of the 
Mishna, and that he died a. d. 135, whereas Eabbi Akiba 
is meant. But in McClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia 
Rabbi Meir, a pupil of Akiba, is named as " one of the 
originators of tlie Mishna," and Judah hak-Kodesh, or the 
Holy, as the actual compiler. And our author in another 
place says it was drawn up in the year 219 by Rabbi Je- 
huda the Holy. But Judah hak-Kodesh was born about 
A. D. 135 (or, as some say, 120,) and died between 190 and 
194. His successors, therefore, must have completed the 
work about a. d. 219. 

Once more our author perplexes the reader by saying 
that the Rabbi Jehoshua Ben Levi (a. d. 120) " was the 
teacher of Rabbi Jochanan, who compiled the Jerttsalem 
Tahnudy 

Thus the question of the authorship of the Talmud is 
somewhat wiwdfdled, and leaving it unsettled, we will 
note in conclusion the significant admission of our author 
that " although the Mishna was drawn up at Tiberias^ 
on the sea of Galilee^ near where Jesus lived, wrought ■ 
miracles, arid taught, neither he nor his followers ai-e 
mentioned once in the Mishna.'' 



THE TOLDOTH JESHU OP HULDEICH. 

In regard to this work we submit the following from 
the Eev. Mr. Gould's "Lost and Hostile Gospels." The 
words and dates in parentheses are his ; those in brackets 
are ours ; also the foot-notes. 

" We will now analyze and give extracts from the sec- 
" end anti-evangel of the Jews, the Toldoth Jeshu of 
" Huldrich. (Joh. Jac. Huldricus : Historia Jeschuse 
" Nazareni, a Judseis blaspheme corrupta ; Leyden, 
" 1705.) It begins thus :" 

In the reign of King Herod the Proselyte, [47 — i b. c.,] there 
lived a man named Papus Ben Jehuda. To him was betrothed 
Miriam, daughter of Kalphus ; and her brother's name was Simeon. 
He was a Eabbi, the son of Kalphus. This Miriam, before her be- 
trothal, was a hair-dresser to women She was surpassing beau- 
tiful in form. She was of the tribe of Benjamin. 

" On account of her extraordinary beauty she was kept 
" locked up in a house ; but she escaped through a win- 
" dow and fled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem with Joseph 
" Pandira, of Nazareth. 

" As has been already said, Papus Ben Jehuda was a 
" contemporary of Babbi Akiba, and died about a. d. 140. 
*' In the Wagenseil Toldoth Jeshu Miriam is betrothed 
" to a Jochanan. In the latter Mary lives at Bethlehem ; 
" in the Toldoth of Huldrich she resides at Jerusalem. 

" Many years after, the place of the retreat of Miriam 
" and Joseph Pandira having been made known to He- 
*' rod, he sent to Bethlehem orders for their arrest, and 
" for the massacre of the children ; but Joseph, who had 
" been forewarned by a kinsman in the court of Herod, 
*' fled in time with his wife and children into Egypt. 

" After many years a famine broke out in Egypt, and 



huldkich's vebsion. 395 

" Joseph and Miriam, with their son Jeshu and his breth- 
" ren, returned to Canaan and settled at Nazareth." 

And Jeshu grew up and went to Jerusalem to acquire knowledge 
in the school of Perachia (b. o. 90) ; and he made there great ad- 
vance, so that he learned the mystery of the chariot (Ezek. i) and 
the holy Name C JHVH. ) 

One day it fell out that Jeshu was playing ball with the sons of 
the priests, near the chamber Gasith, on the hill of the Temple. 
Then by accident the ball fell into the Fish- valley. And Jeshu 
was very grieved, and in his anger he plucked the hat from off his 
head and cast it on the ground and burst into lamentations. There- 
upon the boys warned him to put his hat on again, for it was not 
comely to be with uncovered head. Jeshu answered. Verily, Moses 
gave you not this law ; it is but an addition of the lawyers, and 
therefore need not be observed. 

Now there sat there Eabbi Eliezer and Joshua Ben Levi (a. d. 220,) 
and the Rabbi Akiba (a. d. 135) hard by, in the school, and they 
heard the words that Jeshu had spoken. 

Then said the Rabbi Eliezer, That boy is certainly a Mamser 
[bastard.] But Rabbi Joshua son of Levi said, He is a Ben-han- 
nidda [son of an adulteress.] And the Rabbi Akiba said also. He 
is a Ben-hannidda. Therefore the Rabbi Akiba went forth out of 
the school and asked Jeshu in what city he was born. Jeshu an- 
swered, I am of Nazareth ; my father's name is Mezaria (from Miz- 
raim, Egypt), and my mother's name is Karchat. 

Then the Rabbis Akiba, Eliezer and Joshua went into the school 
of the Rabbi Joshua son of Perachia and seized Jeshu by the hair 
and cut it off in a circle, and washed his head with the water Bo- 
leth, so that the hair might not grow again. 

" Ashamed at this humiliation, the boy returned to Naz- 
" areth, where he wounded his mother's breast. 

" Probably the author of this counter-Gospel saw one 
" of those common artistic representations of the Mater 
" Dolorosa with a sword piercing her soul, and invented 
" the story of Jesus wounding his mother's breast to ac- 
" count for it. 

" "When Jeshu was grown up there assembled about 
" him many disciples, whose names were Simon and Mat- 



396 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

" thias, Elikus, Mardochai and Thoda, whose names Jeshu 
*' changed." 

He called Simon Peter, after the word Petrus, which in Hebrew 
signifies the First.* And Matthias he called Matthew: and Elikus 
he called Luke, because he sent him forth among the heathen; 
and Mardochai he named Mark, because he said, Vain men come to 
me ; and Thoda he named Papul (Paul), because he bore witness 
of him. 

Another worthless fellow also joined them, named Jochanan, and 
he changed his name to Johannus on account of the miracles Jeshu 
wrought through him by means of the incommunicable Name, This 
Johannus advised that all the men who were together should have 
their heads washed with the water of Boleth, that the hair might 
not grow on them, and all the world might know that they were 
Nazarenes. 

But the affair was known to the elders and to the King. Then he 
sent his messengers to take Jeshu and his disciples, and to bring 
, them to Jerusalem. But out of fear of the people they gave timely 
warning to Jeshu that the King sought to take and kill liim and his 
companions. Therefore they fled into the desert of Ai (Caper- 
naum ?t) And when the servants of th^ King came and found them 
not, with the exception of Johannus, they took him and led him be- 
fore the King. And the King ordered that Johannus should be 
executed with the sword. The servants of the King therefore went 
at his command and slew Johannus, and hung up his head at the 
gate of Jerusalem. 

" Evidently the author confounds John the Baptist with 
" John the Apostle." 

About this time Jeshu assembled the inhabitants of Jerusalem 

* Ptr "IDS in Hebrew means, "a firstling." But what then be- 
comes of the Greek pun on Petrosf (Matt, xvi, 18.) 

f Ai was the second city taken by the Israelites (Josh, viii.) 
Aiath, mentioned in Isaiah x, 28, is believed to be the same city. 
In Ezra ii, 28, we read that "the men of Bethel and Ai," to the 
number of 223 (123 in Neh. vii, 32) returned from the captivity. 
In Neh. xi, 31, Aija is mentioned in connection with Bethel. Ai is 
supposed to have been situated about ten miles northeast of Jerusa- 
lem, and four miles southeast of Bethel. That is far distant from 
Capernaum, and in a desert region, whereas there was no desert 
about Capernaum. 



huldrich's version, 397 

about him and wrouglit many miracles. He laid a millstone on the 
sea and sailed about on it, and cried, I am God, Son of God, bom 
of my mother by the power of the Holy Ghost, and I sprang from 
her virginal brow. 

And he wrought many miracles, so that all the inhabitants of Ai 
believed in him, and his miracles he wrought by means of the in- 
communicable Name. 

Then Jeshu ordered the law to be done away with, for it is said 
in the Psalm, It is time for thee, Lord, to lay to thine hand, for 
they have destroyed thy law. Now, said he, is the right time come 
to tear up the law, for the thousandth generation has come since 
David said, He hath promised to keep his word to a thousand gene- 
rations (Ps. cviii, 8.) 

Therefore they arose and desecrated the Sabbath. 

When now the elders and wise men heard of what was done they 
came to the King and consulted him and his council. Then an- 
swered Judas, son of Zachar, I am the first of the King's princes ; 
I wiU go myself and see if it be true what is said, that this man 
blasphemeth. 

" Judas in St. John's Gospel is called the son of Simon 
" (vi, 71 ; xiii, 2, 26). Son of Zachar is a corruption of 
" Iscarioth. The name Iscarioth is probably from Keri- 
" oth, his native village, in Judah."* 

Therefore Judas went and put on other clothes like the men of 
Ai, and spake to Jeshu and said, I also will learn your doctrine. 
Then Jeshu had his head shaved in a ring and washed with the 
water Boleth. 

After that they went into the wilderness, for they feared the King 
lest he should take them if they tarried at Ai. And they lost their 
way ; and in the wilderness they lighted on a shepherd who lay on 
the ground. Then Jeshu asked him the right way, and how far it 
was to shelter. The shepherd answered. The way lies straight be- 
fore you, and he pointed it out with his foot. 

They went a little further, and they found a shepherd maiden, and 
Jeshu asked her which way they must go. Then the maiden led 
them to a stone which served as a sign-post. And Peter said to 

♦The Sinaitic Codex has "Judas [the son] of Simon, who was of 
Kariotus" — a^o Kapoiorou. (John vi, 71.) 



398 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

Jeshu, Bless this maiden who has led us hither ! And he blessed 
her, and wished for her that she might become the wife of the shep- 
herd they had met on the road. 

Then said Peter, Wherefore didst thou so bless the maiden ? He 
answered. The man is slow, but she is lively. If he were left with- 
out her activity it would fare ill with him. For I am a God of 
mercy, and make marriages as is best for man. 

" This is a German story. There are many such of 
" Jesus and St. Peter to be found in all collections of 
" German household tales. They go together on a jour- 
" ney, and various adventures befal them, and the Lord 
" orders things very differently from what Peter expects. 

" To this follows another story, familiar to English 
" school-boys. The Apostles come with their Master to 
" an inn, and ask for food. The innkeeper has a goose, 
" and it is decided that he shall have the goose who dreams 
*' the best dream that night. When all are asleep, Judas 
" gets up, plucks, roasts and eats the goose. Next morn- 
" iug they tell their dreams. Judas says, ' Mine was the 
" best of all, for I dreamt that in the night I ate the 
" goose ; and lo ! the goose is gone this morning. I think 
" the dream must have been a reality.' Among English 
*' school-boys the story is told of an Englishman, and 
*' Scotchman, and an Irishman. The latter, of course, 
*' takes the place of Judas. 

" Some equally ridiculous stories follow, inserted for 
*' the purpose of making our blessed Lord and his apos- 
" ties contemptible, but not taken, like the two just men- 
" tioned, from German folk-lore."* 

After that Judas went to Jerusalem, but Jeshu and Peter tarried 

* But does not much of the German folk lore antedate the Ghris> 
tian era ? The story of William Tell is prehistoric. 



huldrich's version. 399 

awaiting him, (at Laish*), for they trusted him. Now when Judas 
was come to Jerusalem, he related to the King and the elders the 
words and deeds of Jeshu, and how, through the power of the in- 
communicable Name, he had wrought such wonders that the people 
of Ai behevedin him, and how that he had taken to wife the daughter 
of Karkamus, chief ruler of Ai. 

Then the King and the elders asked counsel of Judas how they 
might take Jeshu and his disciples. Judas answered, Persuade 
Jagar Ben Purah, their host, to mix the water of f orgetf ulness with 
their wine. We will come to Jerusalem to the Feast of Tabernacles ; 
and then do ye take him and his disciples. For Jagar Purah is the 
brother of the Gerathite Karkamus ; but I wiU persuade Jeshu that 
Jagar Purah is the brother of Karkamus of Ai, and he will believe 
my words, and they will all come up to the Feast of Tabernacles. 
Now when they shall have drunk of that wine, then will Jeshu for- 
get the incommunicable Name, and so will be unable to deliver 
himself out of your hands, so that ye can capture him and hold 
him fast. 

Then answered the King and the elders. Thy counsel is good ; go 
in peace, and we will appoint a fast. Therefore Judas went his 
way on the third of the month Tirsi, (October), and the great as- 
sembly in Jerusalem fasted a great fast, and prayed God to deliver 
Jeshu and his followers into their hands. And they undertook for 
themselves and for their successors a fast to be held annually on the 
third of the month Tirsi forever. 

When Judas had returned to Jeshu he related to him, I have been 
attentive to hear what is spoken in Jerusalem, and none so much as 
wag their tongues against thee. Yea, when the King took Johan- 
nus to slay him his disciples came in force and rescued him. And 
Johannus said to me, Go, say to Jesus our Lord, that he come with 
iiis disciples and we will protect him; and see! the host, Jager 
Purah, is brother of Karkamus, ruler of Ai, and an uncle of thy 
betrothed. 

Now when Jeshu heard the words of Judas he believed them ; 
for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their neighbors fasted inces- 
santly during the six days between the feast of the New Year and 

* Laish is inserted by Mr. Gould, but whether from inference or 
actual mention in the untranslated part of the story, we do not 
know. Laish was situated about 30 miles north of the sea of 
Galilee. 



400 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

the Day of Atonement ; yea, even on the Sabbath day did some of 
them fast! And when those men who were not in the secret asked 
wherefore they fasted at this unusual time, when it was not cus- 
tomary to fast save on the Day of Atonement, the elders answered 
them, This is done because the King of the Gentiles, has sent and 
threatened us with war. 

But Jeshu and his disciples dressed themselves in the costume of 
the men of Ai, that they might not be recognized in Jerusalem ; 
and in the fast on the Day of Atonement, Jeshu came with his dis- 
ciples to Jerusalem and entered into the house of Purah, and said, 
Of me it is written, Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed 
garments from Bozrah ? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to 
save. I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there 
was none with me. (Isa. Ixiii, 1-3). For now am I come from 
Edom to the house of Purah, and of thee, Purah, was it written, 
Jegar Sahadutha ! (Gen. xxxi, 47). For thou shalt be to us a hill 
of witness and assured protection. But I have come here to Jeru- 
salem to abolish the festivals and the holy seasons and the appointed 
holy days. And he that believeth in me shall have his portion in 
eternal life. I will give forth a new law in Jerusalem, for of me 
was it written, Out of Zion shall the law go forth, and the word of 
the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isa. ii, 3). And their sins and un- 
righteousness will I atone for with my blood. But after I am dead 
I will arise to life again, for it is written, I kill and make alive ; I 
bring down to hell and raise up therefrom again. 

But Judas betook himself secretly to the King and told him how 
that Jeshu and his disciples were in the house of Purah. Therefore 
the King sent many priests into the house of Purah, who said unto 
Jeshu, We are ignorant men, and believe in thee and thy word, but 
do this, we pray thee : work a miracle before our eyes. 

Then Jeshu wrought before them wonders by means of the in- 
communicable Name. 

And on the great Day of Atonement he and his disciples ate and 
drank, and fasted not ; and they drank of the wine wherewith was 
mingled the water of forgetfulness and then betook themselves to 
rest. 

And when midnight was now come, behold, servants of the King 
surrounded the house, and to them Purah opened the door. And 
the servants broke into the room where Jeshu and his disciples 
were, and they cast them into chains. 



huldrich's version. 401 

Then Jeshu directed his mind to the incommunicable Name ; but 
he could not recall it, for it had vanished from his recollection. 

And the servants of the King led Jeshu and his disciples to the 
prison of the blasphemers. And in the morning they told the King 
that Jeshu and his disciples were taken and cast into prison. Then 
he ordered that they should be detained till the Feast of Taber- 
nacles. 

And on that feast aU the people of the Lord came together to the 
feast, as Moses had commanded them. Then the King ordered 
that Jeshu's disciples should be stoned outside the city ; and all the 
Israelites looked on and heaped stones on the disciples. And all 
Israel broke forth into hymns of praise to the God of Israel that 
these men of Belial had thus fallen into their hands. 

But Jeshu was kept still in prison ; for the King would not slay 
him till the men of Ai had seen that his words were naught, and 
what sort of a prophet he was proved to be. 

Also he wrote letters throughout the land to the councils of the 
Synagogues to learn from them after what manner Jeshu should be 
put to death, and summoning all to assemble at Jerusalem on the 
next feast of the Passover to execute Jeshu, as it is written, "Who- 
soever blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to 
death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him. (Lev. 
xxiv, 16). 

But the people of Girmajesa (Germany) and all that country 
round, what is this day called Wormajesa (Worms) in the land of 
the Emperor, and the little council in the town of "Wormajesa, 
answered the King in this wise : Let Jesus go, and sMy him not. 
Let him live tiU he die and perish. * 

But when the feast of the Passover drew nigh it was heralded 
through all the land of Judea that any one who had aught to say in 
favor and for the exculpation of Jeshu, should declare it before the 
King. But all the people with one consent declared that Jeshu 
must die. 

* This mention of Germany, Worms and the Emperor is adduced 
by Mr. Gould as certain proof of the very late date of the document. 
But we beUeve this whole paragraph to be an interpolation. The 
story reads just as well without it. The passage in Josephus con- 
cerning Christ is admitted by Mr. Gould to be an early interpola- 
tion ; why may not this about Germany be a late one ? That was a 
pious fraud ; this evidently a joke by a wicked scribe. But a wor- 
shiper of the " blessed Jesus" could hardly be expected to see it. 



402 SEPHEE TOLDOTH JESHU. 

Therefore on the eve of the Passover Jeshu -was brought out of 
prison, and they cried before him, So may all thine enemies perish 
O Lord I And they hanged him on a tree outside of Jerusalem, as 
the King and elders of Jerusalem commanded. 

And all Israel looked on and praised and glorified God. 

Now when even was come Judas took down the body of Jeshu 
from the tree and laid it in his garden in a conduit. 

But when the people of Ai heard that Jeshu had been hung they 
became enemies to Israel. And the people of Ai attacked the Isra- 
elites and slew of them two thousand men. And the Israelites 
could not go to the feasts because of the men of Ai. Therefore 
the King proclaimed war against Ai ; but he could not overcome it, 
for mightily grew the multitude of those who believed in Jeshu, 
even under the eyes of the King of Jerusalem. 

And some of these went to Ai and declared that on the third day 
after Jeshu had been hung fire had fallen from heaven, which had 
surrounded Jeshu, and he had arisen alive and gone up to heaven. 

And the people of Ai believed what was said, and swore to avenge 
on the children of Israel the crime they had committed in hanging 
Jeshu. Now when Judas saw that the people of Ai threatened great 
things, he wrote a letter unto them saying. There is no peace to the 
ungodly, saith the Lord ; therefore do the people take counsel to- 
gether and the Gentiles imagine a vain thing. Come to Jerusalem 
and see your false prophet. For lo ! he is dead and buried in a 
conduit. 

Now when they heard this the men of Ai went to Jerusalem and 
saw Jeshu lying where had been said. But nevertheless, when they 
returned to Ai they said that all Judas had written was false. For 
lo ! said they, when we came to Jerusalem we found that all be- 
lieved in Jeshu, and had risen and expelled the King out of the city 
because he believed not ; and many of the elders have they slain. 
Then the men of Ai believed those words of the messengers, and 
they proclaimed war against Israel. 

Now when the King and the elders saw that the men of Ai were 
about to encamp against them, and that the numbers of these 
worthless men grew — they were the brethren and kinsmen of Jeshu 
—they took counsel what they should do in such sore straits as they 
were in. 



huldeich's version. 403 

And Judas said, lo ! Jeshu has an uncle Simon, son of Kalpus,* 
who is now alive, and he is an honorable old man. Give him the 
incommunicable Name and let him work wonders in Ai, and tell the 
people that he does them in the name of Jesus. And they will be- 
lieve Simon because he is the uncle of Jeshu, But Simon must 
make them believe that Jeshu committed to him aU power to teach 
them not to ill-treat the Israelites, and [that] he has reserved them 
for his own vengeance. 

This counsel pleased the King and the elders, and they went to 
Simon and told him the matter. 

Then went Simon when he had learned the Name and drew nigh 
unto Ai, and he raised a cloud and thunder and lightning. And he 
seated himself on the cloud, and as the thunder rolled he cried, Ye 
men of Ai, gather yourselves together at the tower of Ai, and there 
will I give you commandments from Jeshu. 

But when the people of Ai heard this voice they were afraid, and 
they assembled on all sides about the tower. And lo ! Simon was 
borne thither on the cloud ; and he stepped upon the tower. And 
the men of Ai fell on their faces before him, 

•' This is probably taken from the story of Simon Magus 
*' in the Pseudo-Linus [Acts of Peter and Paul]. In the 
" apocryphal book of the Death of the Virgin [Passing 
" of Mary] the Apostles come to her death-bed riding on 
" clouds. Ai is here Kome, not Capernaum, "f 

Then Simon said, I am Simon Ben Kalpus, uncle of Jeshu. Jeshu 
came and sent me unto you to teach you his law, for Jesus is the 
Son of God. And lo ! I will give you the law of Jesus, which is a 
new commandment. 

Then he wrought before them signs and wonders, and he said to 

* This Simon son of Kalpus answers to Simon Ben Keplia in the 
first Toldoth Jeshu. But Mr. Gould, ignoring that coincidence, 
seeks to identify this person with Simeon Ben Chelptu, who lived 
about A. D. 160. We leave the critical reader to judge which of the 
two conjectures is most Ukely to be true, 

t Heretofore the author has supposed that Ai meant Capernaum. 
Now, presto, he dogmatically asserts that it is Rome ! Why ? Be- 
cause a similar legend is told about Simon Magus flying from a 
tower at Eome in the reign of Nero. But so also the first Toldoth 
Jeshu says that Simon Kepha died on a tower in the city of the 
Nazareans, about 39 b. o. The legend is, perhaps, prehistoric. 



404 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

the people of Ai, Swear to me to obey all that I tell you. And 
they swore to him. Then said Simon, Go to your own homes. And 
all the people of Ai returned to their dwellings. 

Now Simon sat on the tower and wrote the commandments even 
as the King and elders had decided. And he changed the Alphabet, 
and gave the letters new names, as secretly to protest that aU he 
taught written in those letters was lies. And this was the Alphabet 
he wrote : A, Be, Ce, De, E, Ef, Cha, I, Ka, El, Em, En, O, Pe, Ku, 
Er, Es, Te, U, Ix, Ejed, Zet.* 

And this is the interpretation : My father is Esau, who was a 
huntsman, and was weary ; and lo ! his sons believed in Jesus, wha 
lives as God. ♦ 

And Simon composed for the deception of the people of Ai lying 
books, and he called them " Avonkelajon " (Evangelium), which, 
being interpreted, is the End of Ungodliness. But they thought he 
said "Eben gillajon," which means Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 
He also wrote books in the name of the disciples of Jeshu, and 
especially in that of Johannes, and said that Jeshu had given him 
these. 

But with special purpose he composed the Book of Johannes, (the 
Apocalypse), for the men of Ai thought it contained mysteries, 
whereas it contained pure invention. For instance, he wrote in the 
Book of Johannes that Johannes saw a beast with seven heads and 
seven horns and seven crowns, and the name of the beast was Blas- 
phemy, and the number of the beast 666. Now the seven heads 
mean the seven letters which compose the words ' ' Jeshu of Naza- 
reth, " And in like manner the number 666 is that which is the sum 
of the letters composing this name.f In like way did Simon com- 
pose all the books to deceive the people, as the King and the elders 
had bidden him. 

And on the sixth day of the third month Simon sat on the cloud, 
and the people of Ai were gathered together before him at the 
tower, and he gave them the book Avonkelajon, and said to them, 
When ye have children born to you ye must sprinkle them with 
water in token that Jeshu was washed in the water Boleth, and ye 
must observe all the commandments that are written in the book of 

♦Are we then to believe that Simon Ben Kalpus invented the 
Boman alphabet ? 

tWe presume the Hebrew is "IV'J W (Jeshu Natzer,) which 
letters number QQC 



huldrich's version. 405 

Avonkelajon. And ye must wage no war against the people of 
Israel, for Jeshu has reserved them to avenge himself on them 
himself. 

Now when the people of Ai heard these words they answered 
that they would keep them. And Simon returned on his cloud to 
Jerusalem. And all the people thought he had gone up in a cloud 
to heaven to bring destruction on the Israelites. 

"The author probably saw representations of the As- 
*' cension and the Last Judgment, with Christ seated with 
" the Books of Life and Death in his hand on a great 
*' white cloud, and composed this story out of what he 
" saw, associating the pictures with the floating popular 
*' legend of Simon Magus." 

Not long after this, King Herod died [b. c. 4], and was succeeded 
by his son [Archelaus] in the kingdom of Israel. But when he had 
obtained the throne he heard that the people of Ai had made images 
in honor of Jesus and Mary, and he wrote letters to Ai and ordered 
their destruction, otherwise he would make war against them. 

Then the people of Ai sent asking help of the Emperor [Augustus] 
against the King of Israel. But the Emperor would not assist them 
and war against Israel. Therefore, when the people of Ai saw that 
there was no help they burned the images and bound themselves 
before the sons of Israel. 

And about this time Miriam, the mother of Jeshu died. Then 
the King [Archelaus] ordered that she should be buried at the foot 
•of the tree on which Jeshu had hung ; and there he also had the 
brothers and sisters of Jeshu hung up. And they were hung, and a 
memorial stone was set up on the spot. 

But the worthless men, their kinsmen, came and destroyed the 
memorial stone and set up another in its stead, on which they wrote 
the words, "Lol this is a ladder set upon the earth, whose head 
reaches to heaven, and the angels of God ascend and descend upon 
it, and the mother rejoices here in her children, AUelujah!" 

Now when the King heard this he destroyed the memorial they 
had erected, and killed a hundred of the kindred of Jeshu. 

Then went Simon, son of Kalpus, to the King and said. Suffer 
me and I will draw away these people from Jerusalem. And the 
IBLing said, Be it so ; go, and the Lord be with thee ! Therefore 



406 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU. 

Simon went secretly to these worthless men and said to them, Let 
us go together to Ai, and there shall ye see wonders which I will 
work. And some went to Ai, but others seated themselves beside 
Simon on his cloud, and left Jerusalem with him. And on the way 
Simon cast down those who sat on the cloud with him upon the 
earth, so that they died. 

" In the story of Simon the Sorcerer it is at the prayer 
*' of Simon Peter that the Sorcerer falls whilst flying and 
*' breaks all his bones. Perhaps the author saw a picture 
*' of the Judgment with saints on the cloud with Jesus, 
*' and the lost falling into the flames of hell." 

And when Simon returned to Jerusalem he told the King what 
he had done, and the King rejoiced greatly. And Simon left not 
the court of the King till his death. And when he died all the Jews 
observed the day as a fast, and it was the 9th of the month Tebotli 
(January. ) 

But those who had gone to Ai at the word of Simon believed that 
Simon and those with him had gone up together into heaven on the 
cloud. 

And when men saw what Simon had taught the people of Ai iu 
the name of Jesus, they followed them also, and they took them 
the daughters of Ai to wife, and sent letters unto the furthest islands 
with the book Avonkelajon, and undertook for themselves and 
for their descendants, to hold to all the words of the book Avon- 
kelajon. 

Therefore they abolished the Law, and chose the first day of the 
week as the Sabbath, for that was the birthday [!] of Jesus, and 
they ordained many other customs and bad feasts. Therefore have 
they no part and lot in Israel. They are accursed in this world, and 
accursed in the world to come. But the Lord bless his people Israel 
with peace. 

These are the words of the Rabbi Jochanan, son of Saccai, in Je- 
rusalem. 

" That this second version of the Life of Jeshu is later 
" than the first one, I think there can be little doubt. It 
" is more full of absurdities than the first, it adopts Ger- 
*' man household tales, and exhibits an ignorance of his- 
" tory even more astounding than the first Life. The 



HDLDRICH*S VERSION. 407 

" preachers of the ' Evangelium ' marry wives, and there 
" is a burning of images of St. Mary and our Lord. 
" These are perhaps indications of its having been com- 
" posed after the Reformation. 

" Luther did not know anything of the Life published 
" later by Huldrich. The only Toldoth Jeshu he was 
" acquainted with was that afterwards published by Wag- 
" enseil."* 

♦ It is not likely that Luther saw the same version which Wagen- 
eeil brought to light and translated long after Luther's death, but 
the version published in the 13th century. See below: Sepheb 
Toldoth Jeshu in the 13th oentubt. 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU IN THE SECOND 
CENTURY. 

In Voltaire's "Philosophical Dictionary," article "Mes- 
siah," reference is made to " Sepher Toldoth Jeshu," 
brought to light by Wagenseil in 1681. Voltaire charac- 
terizes it as "a monstrous history of the life of our Sa- 
vior, forged with the utmost disingenuousness," and after 
giving a brief outline of the story, he says : 

" This detestable book was known in the 2d century. Celsas 
confidently cites it, and Origen refutes it." 

We would like to be able to reaffirm the statement that 
Celsus cited our Toldoth Jeshu, but it is certain that he 
referred to a story which differed from it in some partic- 
ulars, as well as from our Gospels. Origen himself says 
(i, 62 :) " Celsus does not appear even to have read the 
Gospel narratives." Quite likely; indeed, if Celsus wrote 
as early as Tischendorf, Lardner, and other orthodox 
scholars claim, to wit, between a. d. 150 and 176, it is 
more than likely he did not read them, because there is 
no trace of the existence of our four Gospels before a. d. 
180. But, on the other hand, Celsus did cite a story sim- 
ilar to our "Toldoth Jeshu." 

The following passage in Justin shows a remarkable 
variation in his Gospel from any of ours : 

" When Jesus had gone to the river Jordan, where John was bap- 
tizing, and when he had stepped into the water a fire was kindled 
in the Jordan ; and when he came out of the water the Holy Ghost 
lighted on him like a dove." (Dial. Trypho, ch, 88.) 

Celsus, referring to the same event, says that the sole 
testimony in regard to the opening of the heavens and the 
appearance of the dove comes from Jesus himself. This 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU IN THE SECOND CENTURY. 409 

Origen corrects by quoting John i, 32-34, where John the 
Baptist bears witness to the fact, and argues that it was 
not in keeping with the character of Jesus to bear witness 
of himseK, nor did the Scripture say that he saw the dove. 
And in the same connection Origen makes the significant 
remark that " the Jews do not connect John [the Baptist] 
with Jesus." (i, 48.) Of coursJnot, for their Jesus lived 
a century before John. 

Celsus says that Jesus was reported to have been " Httle, 
ill-favored, and ignoble." Origen's answer is remarkable. 
He admits that Jesus was ill-favored, denies that he was 
ignoble, and says there is no certain evidence that he was 
little, (vi, 75.) But the only proof he adduces is from 
prophecy. He quotes the Septuagint version of Isaiah 
liii, 2, 3, which reads, " He had no form nor beauty ; but 
his form was ignoble and inferior to that of the sons of 
men." (Instead of " ignoble," the English translation of 
Origen has without honor.) Origen then cites Psalm xlv, 
3, " Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with 
thy comeliness and beauty," to prove that Jesus was 
not ugly in appearance, and argues that he looked differ- 
ently to different persons and at different times. On the 
whole, Celsus seems to have the best of the argument. 

It is enough, therefore, for our purpose that such a 
story as our Toldoth Jeshu was current and, no doubt, in 
writing as early, if not earlier than a. d. 180, when our 
four Gospels first appeared. But as to " Sepher Toldoth 
Jeshu" being a "detestable forgery," if Voltaire were 
living now, he might have said "the same about the four 
Gospels, and have appealed to admissions of some of the 
most learned Christian scholars in support of the affirma- 
tion. 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU IN THE THIR- 
TEENTH CENTURY. 

Gliding down the stream of time a thousand years we 
find but few references to the Jesus described by Celsus 
and the Talmud. This, j^owever, is not surprising in view 
of the fact of the suppression of all anti-Christian litera- 
ture. But just as we pass the midnight of Christianity the 
legend comes to light. One Eaymundus Martini, near 
the close of the 13th century, unearths a Hebrew or Chal- 
dean manuscript and publishes a Latin translation of a 
part of the story, which we now present in English as 
follows : 

In the days of Queen Elani {i. e. , Helena) who reigned over the 
whole land of Israel, Jesus the Nazarean came to Jerusalem and 
found in the Temple of the Lord a stone on which once rested the 
ark of God, and it had written thereon 8hem Hamphoras (t. e. , the 
interpreted name.) For whoever should read and learn the letters 
of this name would be able to do whatever he wished. The wise 
men, therefore, fearing that the people of Israel might make out the 
name and by virtue thereof destroy the world, made two brazen 
dogs and placed them on the two columns at the door of the Sanc- 
tuary. Whenever, therefore, any one went there and learned the 
letters of the name aforesaid and came out, the brazen dogs barked 
at him so terribly that in his fright he forgot the name and the 
letters which he had learned. 

Therefore came Jesus the Nazarean, and going into the Temple 
he learned the letters and wrote them on a piece of parchment. 
Then he cut the flesh of his leg and placed in the incision the said 
piece of parchment, and speaking the name, he felt no pain, and 
the skin presently closed up as it was before. And as he was going 
out of the Temple the aforesaid brazen bogs barked at him and at 
once he forgot the name. Then he looked at the parchment where 
the letters of the 8hem Hamphoras were and again learned them. 

Having done this he gathered together 310 young men of Israel 
and said to them : The wise men declare me a bastard because they 

410 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 411 

seek to have domain over Israel ; but ye know that all the prophets 
spoke concerning the Messiah, and verily I am he ; and concerning 
me Esaias the prophet said (chap, vii,) Behold a virgin shall con- 
ceive and shall bring forth a son and shall call his name Immanuel. 
David, my ancestor, also prophesied concerning me and said (Ps. 
ii,) The Lord said to me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten 
thee. Therefore did my mother conceive me without knowing a 
man, by the power of God. They therefore are illegitimate and 
not I, as it is said (Hos. ii,) And I will not have mercy on her chil- 
dren, for they are children of whoredoms. 

The young men replied to him, If thou art the Messiah, show us 
a sign. What sign, said he, do you ask of me ? They said to him. 
Make a cripple stand up like ourselves. He said to them. Bring 
one to me. Straightway, therefore, they brought to him a cripple 
who had never stood on his feet. He pronounced over him the 
8hem Hamphoras, and in that same hour the cripple arose and 
stood on his feet. Therefore all bowed down to Jesus and said, 
"Without doubt this is the Messiah. 

Then they brought to him a leper, and he spoke the Name and 
laid his hand upon him, and straightway he was cured. Therefore 
many of the low people of our nation joined him. 

The wise men who trusted in Israel, seeing this, therefore took 
him and brought him to the Queen Helena, who governed all Israel, 
and said to her, O Sovereign, this man is a sorcerer and he leads 
the world into error. But Jesus said to her, O Sovereign, the ancient 
prophets spoke concerning me, one of whom said (Esai. xi, 1,) 
There shall come forth a branch out of the stem of Jesse. I am 
that branch. Moreover, David truly said (Ps. i, 1,) Blessed is he 
who walketh not nor goeth into the council of the ungodly. 

The Queen said. Is it not written in your law as he doth say ? 
They said to her. It is thus written in our law, but it is not spoken 
concerning him. But as to this man it is written (Deut. xiii, 5,) 
And that prophet who hath spoken wickedly against God shall be 
put to death. But concerning the Messiah it is said (Jer. xxiii, 6,) 
In his days Judah shall be saved. 

The bad fellow answered and said to the Queen, I am he because 
I raise the dead. 

Therefore, the Queen sent away the more faithful of her attend- 
ants, and this ungodly fellow raised a dead person by the STiem 
MampTwras. Then the Queen was astounded and said, Truly this 



412 SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 

is a great sign. And she bade the wise men adie'u, and they departed 
abashed from her presence. Then there was great grief among them 
and in Israel. 

Now Jesus went to upper Galilee. And the wise men went to the 
Queen and said to her, O Sovereign, this man is a sorcerer and he 
deceiveth the people. So she sent soldiers to take him. And the 
men of Galilee would not permit it, but were ready to resist them. 
Jesus said, Do not fight for me, for the strength of my father in 
heaven and the signs which he hath given me will protect me. 
Therefore the men of Galilee made birds of mud in his presence 
and he spoke the Shem Hamphoras over them, and straightway the 
birds flew. Then all fell down on their faces and worshiped him. 

And in the same hour he ordered a great millstone to be brought 
and cast into the sea, which being done, the impious fellow pro- 
nounced the Shem Hamphoras and made the millstone float on the 
surface of the sea. And he sat upon it and said to the soldiers. Go 
to your Sovereign and tell her what ye have seen. Then he stood 
up before them and began to walk on the surface of the water. 

The soldiers departed and told Queen Helena what they had seen. 
She, in great amazement, called the wise men and said to them, Ye 
say that this man is a sorcerer, but know ye that the wonders he 
hath wrought show him to be indeed th§ Son of God. They said, 
O Sovereign, make him come here and we will detect the fraud. 

Meanwhile the elders of Israel went and got a certain man 
named Judah Scariot to enter the Holy of Holies and learn the 
letters of Shem Hamphoras just as Jesus had learned them ; and he 
cut open the flesh of his leg and did whatever other things Jesus 
had done. 

Then came the Nazarean with his associates, and the Queen com- 
manded the wise men to come. And Jesus standing before the 
Queen said, Concerning me David prophesied (Ps. xxii,) For the 
dogs have compassed me, the assemblies of the wicked have be- 
sieged me. But it is also written concerning me (Jer. i, 8,) Be not 
afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the 
Xiord. But the wise men contradicted him. 

He said to the Queen, I shall ascend to heaven, for thus saith 
David concerning me (Ps. cviii,) Be thou exalted, O God, above 
the heavens. And he lifted his hands as if they were wings, and 
by repeating the SJiem Hamphoras he flew up between heaven and 
earth. 



SEPHER TOLDOTH JESHU IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 413 

When the wise men of Israel saw this they called upon Judah 
Scariot to pronounce the Shem Hamphoras and go up after him. 

So he went up and wrestled with him, and both fell down ; and 
the wicked one broke his arm. And for this cause every year the 
Christians wail before the paschal feast. 

In that hour Israel took him and covering him with sackcloths 
struck him with a whip of pomegranate, saying to Queen Helena, 
If he be the son of God let him say who struck him. And he was 
unable to tell. Therefore the Queen said to the wise men, Lo, he 
is in your hands ; do with him what is pleasing in your eyes. 

Therefore they took him and led him out to hang him.. But 
every stick of wood or tree on which he was placed was forthwith 
broken, because he by the Shem HampTwras had conjured all wood 
so that it should not bear him up. 

Then they went and brought the stem of a plant which is not 
wood, but an herb, and on that they hanged him. 

Nor is it wonderful, for one of these plants grows so large in a 
single year, in the house of the Sanctuary, that it yields a hundred 
measures of seed. 

The Latin translation of the above was made by a 
monk named Porchetus Salvaticus. It was afterwards 
translated into German by Luther, but we are not aware 
that it has ever been rendered into English till we did it 
for the Truth Seeker. 



PAUL FLOURISHED BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN 

ERA. 

The suspicion that Paul flourished a century before the 
time assigned to him in the book of Acts has never, we 
believe, been entertained by any one but ourself ; nor did 
we even dream of it until a few months ago, while trans- 
lating " Sepher Toldoth Jeshu," where we found a Simon 
Kepha dying on a tower about 39 b. c. We had long re- 
jected as pure fiction the story about Peter and Paul in 
the Acts, but without suspecting that Paul and Kepha 
might have lived long before the time indicated in Acts. 
Rut finding a Simon Kepha in the century before the 
Christian era, we turned to Paul's Epistles to see if we 
could there discover any clue to dates, when lo ! we found, 
in 2 Corinthians, xi, 32, this : 

" In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city 
of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me." 

Now, we know from Josephus and other sources that 
Aretas, king of Arabia Petrea, held Damascus for many 
years prior to 63 b. c, when all Syria, Damascus inclu- 
ded, became a part of the Roman Empire. And though 
there were other later kings of Arabia Petrea named Aretas 
— one even as late as a. d. 37, who fought and defeated his 
son-in-law Herod, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea (Jos. Ant. 
xviii, 5, — yet it does not appear that the last-named Aretas 
ever acquired any part of the Roman territory. Nor, in- 
deed, was it possible for such a petty king to have marched 
an army 250 miles and taken the strong city of Damascus 
out of the hands of the Romans. The idea is simply pre- 
posterous. 

The book of Acts affords the only data by which Paul 
is assigned to the middle of the 1st century. But that 

414 



PAUL FLOURISHED BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA. 415 

book has been abundantly proved to be a fiction, gotten 
up in the 2d century. If any Freethinker thinks this a 
rash assertion let him consult Dr. Davidson's " Introduc- 
tion to the Study of the New Testament," and the third 
volume of " Supernatural Religion." In chapter xiii of 
our Revelations we have shown that the statements in 
Acts about Paul are altogether contradictory to his Epis- 
tles, and cannot be reconciled therewith. The genuine 
writings of Paul fit as well a century b. *c. as the date 
commonly assigned to them. His Christ was not the 
Christ of the Gospels, nor did he know any Peter, but 
Kepha whose Aramaic name, meaning "rock," was trans- 
lated into Petros long after his time, in order that the 
Romish Church might have a " rock " for its foundation. 
Given Alexander Selkirk, and a good novelist produces 
" Robinson Crusoe." Given Paul's epistles, and a priestly 
blockhead writes the story of Acts. 

Therefore, the book of Acts being impeached, and ad- 
mitted even by rational Christian scholars to be from 
beginning to end a forgery and a fiction, we fall back on 
the only other evidence, namely, Paul's own writings, not 
only for the facts of his life, but for the chronology ; and 
there we find one single passage which points to the reign 
of King Aretas in Damascus, and makes Paul contempo- 
rary with the Simon Kepha of the Toldoth Jeshu, who 
died thirty-six years after the stoning and hanging of 
Jeshu, or about 39 b. c. That probably was the same 
Kepha to whom Paul so often refers, a rival and elder 
apostle of the same Jesus, afterwards called the Mashiach, 
the Christos, the anointed. 

On this question of the antiquity of Paul, Kepha, and 
Jeshu, we feel that we stand upon a rock — a Kepha, a 
Petros — and the gates of Rome cannot prevail against us. 



SILENCE OF JOSEPHUS, JUSTUS, AND 
PHILO. 

Lest any benighted reader should think it a rash asser- 
tion that no Jewish or heathen writer of the 1st century 
has mentioned Christ or Christianity, we now adduce two 
extracts from the Rev. S. Baring Gould's " Lost and 
Hostile Gospels." On the very first page he says: 

" It is singular tliat neither Philo, Josephus, nor Justus of Tibe- 
rias should have ever alluded to Christ or to primitive Christianity. " 

Again on page 3, after quoting the celebrated passage 
from Josephus, he says : 

'* That this passage is spurious has been almost universally ac- 
knowledged. It is first quoted by Eusebius in two places, (Eccl. 
Hist, i, 11 ; Demonst. Evang. iii,) but it was unknown to Justin 
Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen. Such tes- 
timony would certainly have been produced by Justin in his Apology 
or in his Controversy with Trypho the Jew, had it existed in the 
copies of Josephus at his time. The silence of Origen is still more 
significant. Celsus in his book against Christianity introduces a 
Jew. Origen attacks the arguments of Celsus and his Jew. He 
could not have failed to quote the words of Josephus, whose writings 
he knew, had the passage existed in the genuine text. He indeed 
distinctly affirms that Josephus did not believe in Christ. (Oontr. 

Cels. i.)" 

416 



JOSEPHUS KNEW NO PAUL OR OTHER 
APOSTLES. 

JosEPHUs was born a. d. 37 in Jerusalem, where lie 
lived until its destruction by Titus, a. d. 70. Few ancient 
historians wrote more fully and truthfully than he of the 
events of their time. Not more than eight years before 
his birth, unless all Christendom has been hoodwinked 
for 1700 years, the most momentous drama in the world's 
history, the crucifixion of the Son of God, was enacted in 
the city where our historian was born. Surely his father, 
who, he says, " was in great reputation in Jerusalem," and 
his mother, as well as his elder associates, must have 
often talked to him of that memorable event. But the 
all-searching historian is strangely silent concerning it, 
and his silence is the more unaccountable considering 
that learned churchmen, such as the distinguished trans- 
lator of his works, Dr. William Whiston, have claimed 
him as an Ebionite or Nazarene Christian. But since 
Dr. Lardner conceded that the passages in Josephus con- 
cerning Christ were forged, most Christian scholars no 
longer claim him as a witness, but rather denounce him 
as an enemy, because he ignored the very existence of 
Christianity, whose alleged birthplace and centre was his 
native city. 

Bear in mind that Josephus was born about the time 
of Paul's conversion, which, according to Acts, occurred 
some time between a. d. 30 and 38. That book describes 
five visits by Paul to Jerusalem, four of which were cer- 
tainly in the lifetime of Josephus, to wit, about a. d. 44, 
51, 56, and 58 or 60. Two of these were too important 
to have been ignored, namely, that of 51 and 58 or 60. 

417 



418 JOSEPHUS KNEW NO PAUL OR OTHER APOSTLES. 

In 51 Josephus was fourteen years old, at whicli age, he 
says, he had made such attainments in learning that the 
high priests and principal men came frequently together 
to consult him on points of law. (Life, sec. 2.) How is it 
possible that so learned a youth should have taken no 
notice of the meeting of the first Christian council in his 
own city ? 

But take the last visit of Paul to Jerusalem, when Jo- 
sephus was twenty-one or twenty-three years old. We 
read in Acts that the apostle was joyfully received by 
James and all the elders. To avoid offending the Jews 
he observed some of their rites. In spite of this his ap- 
pearance in the temple excited a riot, and he was dragged 
out and would have been murdered but for the interpo- 
sition of the Roman chief captain. Then he was per- 
mitted to address the crowd from the steps of the castle; 
but this did not appease their wrath, and he was taken 
within to save his life. The next day he was brought be- 
fore the Jewish council, presided over by the high priest. 
Here, by an adroit plea, he gained the favor of the Phari- 
sees ; but such was the deadly hatred of the Sadducees 
that again the Roman captain had to rescue him from 
death. Then forty Jews took an oath not to eat or drink 
till they had slain him. Fortunately the apostle happened 
to have a friendly nephew in the city who informed the 
captain of the plot, whereupon he was hurried away by 
night to Cesarea under a strong guard of soldiers. 

All this exciting scene escapes the notice of the great 
historian. 

Again, a few days later, Paul's case was heard before 
Governor Felix at Cesarea, in the presence of the high 
priest and elders, who came from Jerusalem with eminent 
counsel to prosecute the apostle. Paul's eloquence was 
such as to cause Felix to tremble and postpone his de- 



JOSEPHUS KNEW NO PAUL OR OTHER APOSTLES. 419 

cision indefinitely ; but what does Josephus know about 
this ? 

Again, after remaining a prisoner for two years, Festus 
succeeds Felix, and forthwith the Jews apply to the new 
governor to have Paul sent back to Jerusalem. But yield- 
ing to the wishes of the prisoner, Festus orders a rehear- 
ing at Cesarea. Accordingly, after a few days, on the 
arrival of King Agrippa, Paul has another notable trial 
before Governor Festus, King Agrippa, his wife Bernice, 
and leading Jews from Jerusalem. On this occasion Paul 
makes his grandest oratorical display, almost persuading 
the king to become a Christian. But Josephus knows no 
more of this than of the former events. 

It is now A. D. 60, 61, or 62, and Paul is sent to Rome, 
where he arrives in 61, 62, or 63, and where he remains 
" two whole years," if not longer, as is generally believed. 

Now, mark a contemporary event in the life of Jose- 
phus. He says (sec. 3) that in his 26th year (a. d. 62 or 
63) he went to Rome to intercede for certain priests sent 
there by Felix to be tried before Cesar. (Paul was held 
by Felix and sent to Rome by his successor, Festus.) 
Josephus must have arrived while Paul was there, or, at 
the furthest, just at the end of his two years' confinement 
in Rome, where, as elsewhere, according to Acts, he dis- 
coursed pretty orthodox Pharisaism, such as Josephus 
himself professed. And yet the historian knows nothing 
of Paul at Rome. 

Verily it would seem as if the writer of Acts had pla- 
giarized this part of his story from Josephus, for the co- 
incidence is remarkable in many respects, including the 
shipwreck which both so narrowly escaped. 

It is scarcely necessary to notice the silence of Josephus 
concerning Peter, who is claimed by the Catholic Church 
to have been bishop of Rome from a. d. 42 to 66. The 



420 JOSEPHTJS KNEW NO PAUL OR OTHER APOSTLES. 

story about Paul is itself a sufficient refutation of that 
absurd tradition. He found not only no Peter at Kome 
A. D. 61-63, but no Christian church, if indeed any Chris- 
tians. 

In the marginal chronology of our Bibles Paul's arrival 
at Eome is dated a. d. 63, but Smith's '* Bible Diction- 
ary " puts it A. D. 61, and in McClintock & Strong's " Cy- 
clopedia of Biblical Literature " an attempt is made to fix 
it earlier, to wit, a. d. 56, by interpreting the " two years " 
of Acts xxiv, 27, to mean, not the term of Paul's deten- 
tion, but Felix's term of office, and making it expire a. d. 
55. This is not only contrary to heretofore accepted 
authorities, but an acknowledged impeachment of Jose- 
phus ; and the main, if not sole, support of this change 
of dates is the doubtful Annals of pseudo-Tacitus. It is 
hardly possible that Josephus would go to Eome to inter- 
cede for friends who were sent there eight years before 
by Felix ; therefore we incline even to the year 62 as the 
end of Felix's term, which would bring Paul and Jose- 
phus to Home in the year 63. But even accepting the 
earliest date, 56, the silence of Josephus in regard to 
Paul and the Acts of the Apostles is no less unaccountable. 

But so far as church history or chronology is concerned, 
there is no truth either in the Acts or Gospels. The 
evangelists wrote their drama from prior materials, of 
which our Toldoth Jeshu was probably a part. Jesus, 
Simon Kepha, and Paul lived and died before the reign 
of Tiberius. The Christ of Paul was not crucified under 
Pontius Pilate, but probably stoned and hanged, accord- 
ing to the inveterate practice of the Jews. The Romans 
omitted the stoning and impaled or tied their culprits on 
a stake. This stake was called in Greek stauros, and 
crucifixion staurosis. The earliest cross was a stake or 
tree. And it is remarkable that Peter twice charges the 



JOSEPHUS KNEW NO PAUL OE OTHER APOSTLES. 421 

Jews with slaying Jesus and hanging him on a tree — - 
xulon (Acts V, 30 ; x, 39) — elsewhere translated " wood," 
"staff." Here seems to be a footprint of the story of 
Jeshu, who was stoned and hanged on a xulon a century 
before. 

In Josephus we read of the stoning of "James the 
brother of Jesus, who was called Christ" (Ant. xx, 9.) 
Dr. Whiston in a note on this passage, assuming its in- 
tegrity, disputes the fact of the death of James the Just 
at this time, about a. d. 62. And Dr. Lardner not only 
says that this manner of the death of James was unknown 
to the early Christians, but he and most other scholars 
reject as spurious the words " who was called Christ." 
It is plain enough, therefore, that nothing remains of the 
identity of the James of Josephus with "James, the 
brother of the Lord," mentioned by Paul in Galatians, 
much less with any mythical Apostle of the Gospels and 
Acts, or any pretended first Bishop of Jerusalem. 

Now, therefore, can there be any reasonable doubt that 
James, Kepha, John, and Paul all lived before the Chris- 
tian era? And, if so, is not this the most important 
literary discovery ever made ? 



ANTIQUITY OF THE TOLDOTH JESHU 
STORY. 

When Professor Wagenseil brought to light the Sepher 
Toldoth Jeshu he published a long and tedious " Refuta- 
tion" in Latin interspersed with Greek, Hebrew, and 
German. His argument is more against its truthfulness 
than its antiquity. He quotes in large type the passage 
from pseudo-Tacitus, as if it were a crowning proof of 
the existence of Jesus in the reign of Tiberius. (See 
our proofs of the forgery of that passage, pp. 28-30, 
176-7.) He points out discrepancies between the differ- 
ent versions of the story of Jeshu. These we concede. 
The versions vary just as the Gospels do, and we will not 
undertake to harmonize the discords, nor even point out 
how much of the story is true, and how much false. But 
the fact of the stoning to death of Jeshu the son of 
Mary, about 75 b. c, as told in the Talmud, is admitted 
by Gould, and also, as we understand, by Wagenseil ; 
while both of them have utterly failed, in our judgment, 
to prove the late origin of the Toldoth Jeshu story, which 
certainly reads as much like a historical narrative as any 
of the four Gospels, and seems to be far more faithful in 
its chronology. 

Doubtless there are interpolations in both versions of 
the Toldoth Jeshu, as there are in all ancient documents. 
It is not likely that the fraud about Peter in Rome ante- 
dates the year 180. It is also quite possible that the 
Evangelists were acquainted with versions of the story 
(Luke i, 1) and therefore when Ireneus or some contem- 
porary scribe redacted the four gospels, about the year 
180, all such tell-tales were suppressed and destroyed. 

422 



ANTIQUITY OF THE TOLDOTH JESHU STOEY. 423 

Fellow Freethinkers, this big old gun has been spiked 
and buried for 1600 years. Two centuries ago Wagen- 
seil discovered it and dug it up, but only to condemn and 
bury it again with the rubbish of his " Eefutation," hoping 
that would be the last of it. But now Antichbist has re- 
exhumed, unspiked, and mounted it. The metal is sound, 
the cannon won't explode, and its shot will penetrate and 
blow up the magazine of Christianity. Selah. 



POSTSCRIPT. 

That the " Annals " of Tacitus were forged in the 15th 
century is now claimed to be demonstrated by the author 
of a book entitled "Tacitus and Bracciolini," London, 
1878. We have already alluded to the announcement of 
such a work, (p. 176.) For forty years Poggio Braccio- 
lini was a Papal secretary and competent to commit such 
a forgery. In 1422, while in the receipt of a starvation 
salary, he was tempted by an offer of 500 sequins (nearly 
$50,000) to engage in some mysterious literary work. 
Seven years later six books of the " Annals " were brought 
to him by a monk from Saxony. Then all Christendom 
rejoiced to learn that the heathen Tacitus had mentioned 
Christ crucified under Pontius Pilate. The discovery 
was worth the money. Poggio, though a father both 
spiritually and carnally, was not a husband till the age of 
54. At 72 he accepted the office of Secretary to the 
Republic of Florence, and at 79 he died, leaving five sons 
of his old age. Up to the last he was a busy student and 
writer. Fifty-six years after his death his fourth son was 
secretary to Pope Leo X, at which time the Pope's 
steward, stimulated by a munificent reward, discovered 



424 POSTSCRIPT. 

the first six incomplete books of the " Annals " — proba- 
bly the unfinished work of Poggio in his old age. 

All we know of this new book is from an adverse 
critique in the Edinburgh Review. We find among 
other internal evidences of forgery the parallel passage 
from Sulpicius Severus, noticed by us on page 177. The re- 
viewer seems to have made some good points against the 
author's classical scholarship, and that is about all he has 
doDe, in our judgment, to shake the strong presumption 
at least of forgery. His article concludes as follows : 

"We have examined this curious volume in considerable detail, 
not because we are at all convinced by it, or that we doubt the au- 
thenticity of the ' Annals ' of Tacitus, but because it exemplifies in 
a striking manner the skeptical tendency of the age to attack the 
authenticity of ancient writers. In our judgment the argument of 
Mr. Eoss against the proper authorship of Tacitus is at least as 
plausible and ingenious as any of the recent attempts which have 
been made to shake the authority of the 4th Gospel; and if a 
similar catena of objections could be urged against any of the books 
of the canon of Scripture, we should probably be told that criticism 
had achieved a signal triumph over theological tradition. The 
truth is, that in such questions the probability lies on the side of 
long tradition, and it requires stronger evidence than this volume 
contains to shake it." 

We are quite satisfied with the concession that the 
cloud on the title of the " Annals " is at least as dark as 
that on the 4th Gospel. And as for "long tradition" 
we think it will be found a little too long to prove Christ 
crucified under Pontius Pilate. 



INDEX. 



Abdias, bishop of Babylon, 46. 

Abiathar, priest, suitor of Mary, 223 f 

Abgar, King of Edessa, 31, 144-149, 151 
f., 157 f., 164 f., 167, 182 f., 279; his 
letter to Jesus Christ, 31, 144, 147, 
279; to Narses, 159; to Tiberius, 160 
f.; sons, 156, 166. 

Acrostic, Sibylline, 71 f., 82, 83, 87, 89, 90, 
91,92, 143. 

Acts of the Apostles, 17, 45, 48 f., 51, 79, 
97,98, 109, 113, 117, 134 f., 140, 158, 168, 
172, 173, 196, 341, 382, 414 f-, 417 f- 

of Andrew, 276. 

of Andrew and Matthias, 276. 

of Barnabas, 274. 

of John, 279. 

of Matthew, 277. 

of Paul and Thecla, 274. 

of Peter and Andrew, 112, 181, 276. 

of Peterand Paul, 112, 273, 342, 403. 

of Pilate, 248-257, 345. 

of Philip, 275. 

of Thaddeus, 279. 

of Thomas, 278. 

and Revelations, (Apocryphal,) 

273-279. 

Adam, 254, 255, 280, 290, 292, 343. 
Advent, first, 62, 66, 68, 71, 149, 256; 

second, 64, 121 f., 127, 154, 171, 178, 

255, 260. 
Adventism, 63 f , 71, 127, 154. 
Adrian, edict of, 105, 210. 
jEcumenius on death of Judas, 215. 
.^schylus on Prometheus, 35. 
Aggeus of Edessa, 157, 165 f 
Ai, 396, 399 f-j 403j 4o6. 
Akiba, Rabbi, 379, 390, 392, 393, 394, 395. 
Albinus, 123, 162, 163. 
Alexandre, Prof., on the Sibyl, 84, 89, 

90, 91, ^2. 
Alexandria, 282, 285, 334, 383. 
Alexandrian Codex, 57, 193. 
Alphabet, Roman, invention of, 404. 
Amours of the Gods, 297. 
Anacalypsis. (See Higgins.) 
Ananias, 248, 275, 362. 
Ananus, 123, 259. 
Andrew, 173, 276, 301, 337. 

Acts of, 276. 

Anna, mother of Jesus, 216 f., 222 f., 

231, 234. 

prophetess, 225, 240. 

Annas, 237, 253, 256, 258 f., 263, 267, 270 f. 
Annubion, 295 f., 310, 328 f. 
Annunciation, 218, 223, 332. 



Antichrist, 1 f., 25, 61 f., 64, 65, 236, 255, 
280, 285, 339, 350, 352,357,389,423; 
origin of name, 62. 

Antioch, 49, 54, 60, 62, 98, 100 f., iii, 136, 
174, 205, 207, 301, 328 f., 346. 

Antiochus Epiphanes, 62. 

Antoninus Pius, edict of, 105, 106, 210. 

Apocalypse. (See Revelation.) 

Apocrypha, (). T., 65 f., 198, 202. 

Apocryphal Gospels, 216-268. 

Acts and Revelations, 273 f. 



ApoUos, 53, no, 197, 215. 

Apostles, 25, 42, 46, 48, 53 f., 62, 107 f., 
118, 120, 121, 127, 130, 132-137, 142, 155, 
168, 170, 199, 208, 215, 233, 235, 280, 301, 
314, 317, 339, 371, 385, 386, 395, 398, 401. 

ApostoUc Appointments, 170-174. 

Constitutions, 117 f., 136. 

P'athers, 191-215, 345 f. 



Appion, 295 f., 328 f. 

Aquila, Clement's brother, 285 f., 295, 

306, 336. 
Aramaic language, 43, 55, 138, 145, 177, 

214, 215. 
Aretas, King of Arabia Petrea, 414 f. 
i\rchelaus, 242, 244, 258 f., 266, 267, 275, 

405- . 
Ascension, 147, 151 f., 168, 171, 172, 200, 

253 f., 265. 
Astaruth, Indian god, 278. 
Astreges, Indian king, 279. 
Astrology, 308, 310. 
Athanasius, 144. 
Athenagoras, 347. 
Athenodorus, 295 f., 310, 330. 
Augustine, 65, 74, 86. 
Augustus, 165, 239, 258, 259, 405. 
Aurelius, edict of, 105, 210. 
Avenging of the Savior, 265 f. 
Avonkelajon, (Evangelium,) 404, 406. 

Babylon, 108, 127, 159, 160, 360, 387. 
Baptism, 268, 301, 307, 374, 404. 
Barbarians, country of, 276 f. 
Barcochab, 390 f. 

Barnabas, 48 f., 53, 62, 90, 99, 109, 135 f., 
172, 192, 198-201, 274, 283, 334, 336, 348. 

Acts of, 274. 

Epistle of, 90, 99, 109, 198-201, 



348. 



• Gospel of. 201. 



Baronius, 150. 
Barsamya, i83f.; martyrdom of, 186-191. 
Bartholomew, 243, 275, 278 ; martyrdom 
of, 278. . 



42s 



426 



INDEX. 



Basnage, 376, 378. 

Baruch, 343. 

Bauer, Bruno, on Paul's Epistles, 43. 

Beast, number of, (Nero Cesar) 64, (Jeshu 

Netzer) 404. 
Becher, Indian god, 278. 
Beecher, preacher, 7, 184, 204, 281. 
Bernice, daughter of Justa, Syropheni- 

cian, 295. 

wife of Agrippa, 419. 

Bethany, Bethphage, 382. 

Bethlehem, 219 f., 224, 230, 231, 232, 233, 

240, 242, 350, 355, 359, 361, 394. 
Beyrout, 279, 298. 
Bible, Douay, 66, 79. 

in India, 73, 89, 93, 94. 

Blauvelt, Augustus, 3 f. , 
Bingham, church historian, 77, 103. 
Bishop, (Episkopos) 165, 171, 181, 197. 
Bishops of Rome. (See Popes.) 
Blavatsky, Mrs., 94, 387. 
Boni, disciple of Jeshu, 386. 
Buddha, 62, 89. 

Cabbage, stem of, 369, 385, 413. 
Caiaphas, 173,239,253, 256, 258 f., 262 f., 

267, 270 f., 335. 
Callistus, bishop of Rome, 196. 
Calvin on Ignatian Epistles, 205. 
Canon, Scripture, 65. 
Capernaum, 41, 230, 258 337, 396, 403. 
Captivity, 69, 71 
Cave, Dr., 82, 150. 
Cave, Jesus born in a, 216, 220, 224, 232, 

233, 240, 350. 
Celsus, 36, 83, 86, 377 f., 386, 390, 391, 408, 

409, 416. 
Cephas, 18, 24 f., 49 f., 52 f., 55 f., 106, 

110 f., 118, 128, 133, 135, 138, 197; one 

of the seventy, 59, in, 136. 
Cerinthus, 130. 
Cesarea, 141, 283, 294, 334, 335, 337, 339, 

418. 

Paneas, (Baneas,) 154. 

Cesnola, Gen., 75. 

Chasda, Rabbi, 385. 

Chreistos, 71 f , 83 f. 

Chrestus, 75, 81, 88, 104, 176. 

Chrestos, 62 f., 68, 74 f., 88, 91, 92, 118. 

Chrestians, 71 f., 80 f., 176. 

Christ, an appearance, i f., 7, 18, 21 f., 25, 
S3, 125, 208, 274-278, 341, 349, 351, 352, 
353; birth of, 7f., 116, 127,220, 224, 
233> 240, 344, 345, 351 ; caricature of, 
37; death of, 8, 15, 18, 66, 70, 127, 154, 
179, 242, 249, 264, 269 ; death warrant 
of, 268 f.; no contemporary record of, 
26 f., 45 f.; pre-Christian, 33, 342 ; vis- 
ion of, by Esdras, 70; by Hermas, 202. 

Christian era, 7 f.; evidences, 31 f.; 
ethics, 143, 203; first use of term, 61, 
73-79, 98-106, 162, 163, 165, 193, 261, 
280, 339; persecution, 29 f, 32, 183- 
191; term of reproach, i, 78. 



Christmas, 8, 172. 

Christna, 2, 18, 62 f , 68, 71 f., 88, 91, 93, 

94, 139- 

Chronology of Jeshu, 359, 375. 
Cicero, 72, 73, 81, 83, 84, 87, 92. 
Circumcision, 49 f , 57, 225, 240, 373. 
Claudius ApoUinaris, 348. 

Emperor, 75, 104, 106, 174 f., 

170, 257, 342. 
Clarke, Dr., 74, 81. 
Clement of Alexandria, 59, 67, 76, 80, 

95, III, 119, 136, 196, 198, 201, 212, 
213, 270, 348. 

Clement of Rome, 45, 60, 90, 99, 136, 192- 

198, 203, 215, 281-340. 

of Philippi, 194, 195, 215. 

Epistle of, 60, 99, 109 f., 193, 

215, 348. 

Story of, 281-340. 



Clementines, iii, 194, 281 f. 

Comstock, Anthony, 199. 

Cleophas, 23, 114, 231, 347, 379. 

Colenso, bishop, 12. 

Constantine, 40, 72, 81, 143, 144, 350, 

Cornelius, 19, 49, 329. 

Council of Jerusalem, 48 f., 66, 113 f, 
137; of Nice, 65, 143, 144, Hippo Re- 
gius ; Carthage, Trent, 65 ; Laodicea, 
66. 

Cross, 35 f., 71, 86, 153, 198, 420. 

Crucifixion, 10 f., 19, 35 f. , 70, 118, 127, 
i33> 150J 154) 161, 162, 168 f., 178, 201, 
242, 249, 252, 258, 264, 269 f., 344, 345, 
354 f ; A. D. 29, 150 f., 168 f., 249, 270; 
month and day of, 268-273. 

Cureton, Dr., i49f , 153,155 f., 158, i63f., 
166 f., 185, 187 f. 

Cyrenus, (Quirinus) 224. 

Damascus, Pilate at, 267 ; Paul at, 335, 

414. 
Daniel, 63, 64, 68 f. 
Davidson, Dr. Samuel, 43, 51, 90, 96 f., 

98, loi, 188, 191, 205, 239, 415. 
Decency, 199, 297, 359, 379. 
Demas, robber, 262, 264. 
Descent into Hell, Christ's, 253 f. 
Diatessaron of Tatian, 158. 
Diegesis. (See Taylor.) 
Diognetus, Epistle to, 192, 193, 215. 
Dionysius of Alexandria, 129. 

of Corinth, 348, 

■ of Halicarnassus, 73, 83. 

Roman abbot, 8. 



Dispute with Doctors, 238, 246. 
Domitian, 189, 206, 279, 347. 
Dorotheus on death of Paul, 44. 
Dositheus, disciple of John the Baptist, 

286, 334, 336 
Dumachus, robber, 242. 

Easter, 130. 
Ebionites, 42. 



INDEX. 



427 



Edessa, 145, 165, 185, 188 ; history of, 167, 
183, 188, 279. 

Egypt, flight into, 8, 225, 234, 236, 240, 
394; return from, 227, 234, 236, 242. 

Elchanan, tutor of Jeshu, 360, 392. 

Eldad & Modad, apocryphal books, 202, 

Eleutherius, bishop, 121. . 

Elias, 253, 255, 280, 374. 

EHkus, (Luke) 396. 

Eliezer or Eleazer, Rabbi, 40 f., 379, 381, 
395- 

Elizabeth, cousin of Mary, 219, 220. 

Emmaus, 20, 24, 382. 

Eneas, scribe, 248. 

Enoch, 63, 236, 255, 256, 280; and Eli- 
jah, 236, 255. 

Enrollment, (in Judea) 219, 224, 232, 239. 

Epaphroditus, Apostle, 133, 135. 

Ephesus, John at, 129 f., 173, 279. 

Ephraem Syrus, 156. 

Epiphanius, 103, 378. 

Epiphany, 172. 

Epistles, N. T., 17, 45, 96, 191 ; of Paul, 
18, 43, 47, 49 f-, 55 ; of Peter, 43, 47. 

Era, Christian, 8 ; Greek, 150, 168 f., 182, 
187, 239, 376; Roman, 269, 376. 

Esdras, Book of, 66 f., 71, 200; Revela- 
tion of, 280. 

Essenes, 2, 26, 41, 69, 118, 123, 126, 131, 
133- 

Eucharist, 13, 133, 170, 172, 279, 307. 

Eusebius, 17, 28, 59, 69, 73, 81, 86, 98, 
100, 102, 103, 105, III, 119 f., 123, 129, 
130, 141-145, 146 f., 152 f., 189, 193, 
194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 201, 211, 248, 
347, 416. 

of Emisa, 144. 

of Nicomedia, 144. 

Evanson, 43. 

Evil, origin of, 322 f. , 327 f. 

Ezra, 66 f. 

Fabricius, 47. 

Fall of man, cause of, 299; parable of, 7. 

Falsehood, Hermas, Paley, and Beecher 
on, 204. 

Falsehoods of Scripture, 288 f., 294, 311 f., 
321. 

Fathers, Apostohc, 191-215, 345 ; Chris- 
tian, 17, 29, 31, 47, 83, 85, 90, 99, 151, 
201, 203. 

Faustin, Clement's father, 302, 309, 326, 
328 f. , 340. 

Faustinus and Faustinianus, Clement's 
brothers, 302, 306, 309, 340. 

Felix, 418, 420, 

Festus, 123, 419. 

Fish, Christian symbol, 73, 85, 86, 88, 91. 

Fiske, Prof, 89, 93. 

Fire-worship, origin of, 300. 

Forgeries, Christian, 17,28, 31 f., 43, 44, 
55, 57 f-, 60, 72, 82, 83, 86, 92, 95, 97, 
100 f., 138 f, 149 f., 268 f., 409 ; recent 
Christian, 268-273. 



Fulvianus, King of the man-eaters, 277, 

Galileans, Galilee, 20, 24, 30, 41, 91, 154, 

227, 231, 235, 252, 265, 270 f., 361, 412. 
Gall and vinegar, 368, 383, 412. 
Gamaliel, 173, 335. 
Gelatins, Pope, 112, 201, 273. 
Gehenna, 235. 

Gemara, 377. (See Talmud.) 
Genealogy wanting in early Gospels, 339* 
Gestas, robbei", 262, 264. 
Giants, 300. 

Gibbon, 30, 72, 89, 143, 150, 176,209, 376. 
Girmajesa, (Germany,) 392, 401. 
Gnostics, Gnosticism, 7, 37, 80, 133,135^ 

203, 278, 341-344, 351- 
Gospels, Apocryphal, 216-268. 
early traces of, 32, 56, 90, 96-, 

109, 172, 181, 199, 233, 289, 345. 
Gould, Rev. S. Baring, 375, 381 f., 383, 

390 f, 394, 416. 
Grabe, 150. 
Grotius, 378, 380. 

Grape vine, millennial, 130 f., 212. 
Gundaphorus, Indian king, 278. 

Hades, descent into, 254 f., 259, 275. 
and Satan, 254, 259. 



Hangingof Jeshu, 369, 384!"., 402, 413,422. 

on a tree, 18 f., 385, 413, 421. 

Hegesippus, 117, 120 f., 347 f. 
Helena, disciple of John the Baptist, 285, 
336. 

- (Alexandra,) Queen of Judah, 



363 f., 370 f, 383, 410 f 
Helvicus's chronology, 376. 
Hermas, pastor of, 99, 109, 192,201-204. 
Hermopolis, 226. 
Herod, Agrippa, 113, 125, 221, 247, 249^ 

369, 419- 

Antipas, 271. 

Philip, 258 f. 

the Great, 8, 116, 220^,234, 240^^ 

242, 249, 251, 258 f., 280, 343, 363, 392^ 
^^393, 394, 396, 402, 405- 
Herodotus, 93. 

Higgins, Godfrey, 61 f., 74, 80, 92, 354. 
Hippolytus, 85, 95, 119 f,, 136, 196, 342 r. 
History of Joseph the carpenter, 116, 

233, 236. 
Homilies, Clementine, iii f., 194, 281 C 
Hyrcanus, 363, 383. 
Huldrich, (Toldoth Jeshu,) 375, 378, 394. 



(See 



Tchtkus, (fish,) 73 f , 85 f., 88, 91. 
Jesous, 71, 82 f., 91, 93, 199, 38E 

Joshua.) 

Chreistos, jz, 82, 85, 86, 88. 

Ignatius, Epistles of, 60, 100 f., 192, 204- 

208, 345, 350 f. 

martyrdom of, 60, loi, 205-208^ 

of Loyola, 103. 



Infancy, (Apoc. Gosp.,) 8, 239-247, 350.. 
Inspiration given up, 3 f. 



428 



INDEX. 



Interpolations, in Clement's Epistle, 60, 
no, 193; in Ignatian Epistles, 100 f.; 
in Josephus, 28, 401, 416, 421 ; in New 
Testament, 41, 52, 55, 56 f., 138 f., 
140; in Old Testament, 288 ; in Tol- 
doth Jeshu, 383, 401, 422; in Syriac 
documents, 155, 158, 161, 162, 167, 183, 
186, 190. 

Independent, 4. 

Index, Editor of, 16. 

Investigator, Boston, 6, 82, 95. 

Ireneus, 36, 85, 95,101, 129 f., 193,195, 
201, 208, 211 f, 233, 236,248, 348, 352 f., 
422. 

Jacolliot, (Bible in India,) 94. 

James of Jerusalem, 18, 23, 25, 28, 39 f., 
48 f., 531 , 68, 97, no, 113, 117, 118-125, 
128, 135 f., 197, 215, 216, 221, 231, 284, 
30X, 331 f., 334f., 339, 347, 381, 418, 
421 ; martyrdom of, 120 f , 218, 421 ; one 
of the seventy, 120; pupil of Jesus, 
39 fj 124. 

brother of Jesus, 28, 114 f., 230 f., 

234, 238, 244, 246, 421. 

brother of the Lord, r8, 40, 54, no, 

113 f-> 117. "8, 119, 137, 301, 334, 343, 
347- 

son of Alpheus, 113, 117, 231, 280. 

son of Zebedee, 113, 117, 125, 135, 

i37> 231. 

the three Apostles, 40, 113-118, 



125. 
Janneus, Alexander, King, 359, 363, 375 f., 

380, 383, 390, 392, 393. 
Jehuda, Ben Tabai, 392 ; the holy, 393. 
Jehoshua, (Jesus, Jeshu,) 82, 93, 360, 388, 

39°- , 

Rabbi, 379, 380, 391. * 

Ben Levi, 393, 395. 

Ben Perachiah, 376, 380, 390, 

, 39i> 395- 

Jerome, 65, 143, 222, 347, 350. 

Jerusalem, council at, 48 f., 66, 113 f., 
137, 418; opposed to Antioch, 62; 
siege of, 266. 

Jeshu, (Jesus,) birth of, 360, 377, 394; 
death of, 368, 369, 373, 384, 390, 402, 
413, 422. 

Jesseans, 103. 

Jesuits, 103, 372. 

Jesus or Jeshu — a carpenter, 378 ; a shep- 
herd boy, 343; an old man, 130, 352?.; 
a magician, 380, 391 ; a married man, 
399; an orthodox Jew, 40 f., 124; 
brothers of, 114, 117, 119, and sisters, 
233; dispute with doctors, 238, 246; 
death of, 344, 368, 373, 384,402,413,421, 
422; death warrant of, 269, 270; in 
Egypt, 8, 42, 225, 227, 234, 236, 240, 
242, 376, 378, 380 f., 390, 394 ; in India, 
(Jezeus Christna,) 73, 94; in 2d (4th) 
Esdras, 66, 69 ; in Septuagint, 33, 65, 
132; letter oX, 144, 147, 151, 155, 264. 



meaning of name, 33, 68, 199, (see 

Joshua;) personal appearance of, 409; 

relatives, 230, 231, 402, 403, 405. (See 

also Christ.) 

high priest, 123, 132. 

Jezeus Christna, 73,94. 

Joachim, 216 f., 222 f., 232. 

Jochanan, 359, 360, 392, 393, 396, 406. 

Johannus, (John,) 396, 399, 404. 

John, Acts of, 279. 

Apostle, 18, 49, 53 f., 107, 118, 119, 

125-132, 133, 135, 173, 206, 208, 211, 

231, 265, 275, 279, 280, 354, 396, 404. 
Baptist, 27, 63, 77, 92, 220, 221, 

231, 233, 254, 279, 285, 334, 336, 396, 

399. 409- 

Epistles, I, 97, 126, 128, 178, 181. 

4th Gospel, 10 f., 15, 22 f., 55 f., 

59, 68, 84, 97, 125 f., 128, 133 f., 138 f., 

150, 152, 171, 178, 181, 346, 382, 388, 

397, 409, 424- 

Presbyter, 129, 211. 

Priest, 131. 

Revelation of, (Apocryphal,) 280, 

Revelator, 63, 107, 118, 126 f., 128, 

131, 133, 134- 

Mark, 274 

of Damascus, 378. 

Jones, Dr., 80. 

Sir \Vm., 93. 

Jose, Rabbi, 381. 

Joshua, (Jesus,) 68, 76, 82, 93, 132, 388. 

Ben Perachiah, 376, 39if.,395. 

Joseph of Arimathea, 252 f., 267; narra- 
tive of, 262-265. 

the carpenter, n5f., 218 f., 223 f., 

229 f., 232 f.. 233 f., 237, 244; sons, 
219, 223, 230, 233, 244. 

Pandera, 259 f., 377 f., 381, 384, 



390, 394. 
Josephus, 17, 27 f., 41, 92, 120 f., 123 f., 

132, 173, 383, 391, 414, 416 f.; knew no 

Paul, 417 f. 
Judah hak-Kodesh, 393. 
Judas, 24 f., 125, 135, 172, 201, 215, 233, 

244, 262 f., 365 f., 369, 397 f., 412. 
the Lord's brother, 114, 115, 233, 

347- ^, 

Thomas, 147 f., 151, 173. 



Judith, 65. 

Julian, Emperor, 77, 91. 

Justa, Syrophenician, 285, 295, 307. 

Justin Martyr, 36, 72, 77 f., 81, 83, 84, 87, 
88, 89, 90, 99, 105, 106 f., 128, 132, 179, 
216, 248. 345 f., 349, 391, 408. 

Justinus, Justinians, 343. 

Justus, 27, 391, 416. 



Kepha, 56, no, 138 f., 160, 167, 170 f., 
173 f., 178 f , 181, 186, 197, 215, 357, 
372 f., 386, 403, 405, 414 f., 421. 

Kerioth, (Judas of Keriotus— Iscariot,) 
397- 



INDEX. 



429 



Lactantius, 76 f., 86, 189. 

Laodicea, 66, 301, 331. 

Lardner, Dr., 37, 38, 81, 82, 83, 84, 88, 
94> 95> 96, 100, 124, 181, 204, 358, 381, 
408, 417, 421. 

Larissa, ancient tomb at, 74, 92. 

Law not written by Moses, 293. 

Lazarus, 252, 254, 258, 382. 

Levi, schoolmaster, 228. 

Licinus, Lysinus, Lucinus, Lysianus, Lu- 
cius Quietus, 184, 185, 186, 187, 260. 

Lightfoot, 38, 56. 

Linus, Bishop, 45, 46, 181, 195. 

Lions, brazen, (dogs,) 361, 380, 381, 410. 

Losania, (Lausanne,) 261. 

Lud, (Lydda,j 384, 391. 

Lucian, 47, 77, 88, 94. 

Luke, Apostle, 137, 173, 280, 396. 

Gospel of, 8 f., 10 f., 15, 20 f., 25, 

97. 134, 150, 152, i99» 231, 253, 350, 382, 
388. 

Luna, (Helena,) 336. 

Luther, 407, 413. 

Magi, 216, 220, 225, 240, 350. 

Man-eaters, country of, 276. 

Marcion, 47, 79, 108, 176, 179, 238, 346, 
348 f. 

Mardochai, (Mark,) 396. 

Mariamne, 275, 342. 

Mark, Apostle, 173, 212 f., 274, 280, 396. 

Gospel of, 10 f , 15, 20 f., 97, 134, 

151, 212 f., 289, 388. 

John, 274. 

Martyrdom, Christian, 188 f., 209 f., 260, 
261; of Barsamya,- 186 f. ; of Bartholo- 
mew, 278; of Ignatius, 60, loi, 205 f.; 
of Paul, 44, 46 f, 109, 181, 197, 273'; 
of Peter, 44, 59, 109, 174, 181, 273; 
of Polycarp, 208 f ; of Popes, 45. 

Mary, 114 f., 216 f., 223 f., 239 f., 280,343, 
344, 345, 351, 352, (see Miriam;) birth 
of, 217, 223, 232, 362 ; death of, 280, 
405; letter of, 100; of family of David, 
218; the sinner, 240; two aunts of Je- 
sus, 230 f. 

the Falling asleep of, 280. 

the Nativity of, 231. 

the Passing of, 280, 403. 

Massacre of infants, 220, 234, 250, 394. 

Matthai, (Matthew,) 386. 

Matthew, Apostle, 214, 276 f., 280. 

Acts of, 277. 

Gospel of, 10 f., 15, 20 f., 87, 

97, 134, 138, 152, 179, 199,200,2141., 
222, 275, 289, 321, 350, 388. 

Pseudo, 222 f. , 350. 



I?Iatthias, 135, 137, 334, (Matthew,) 276, 

277, 280, 395. 

Acts of Andrew and, 276. 

Mattidin, Clement's mother, 302, 304f.j 

330, 340- 
McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia, 124, 

132, 224, 259, 271, 393, 420. 



Meir, Rabbi, 393. 
Mehto, 30, 188, 209, 348. 
Memphis, 242. 

Mesopotamia, 145, 152, 167, 185. 
Mesraim, (Zoroaster,) 339, 395. 
Messiah, (Mashiach, Meshiha,) 33, 55, 
63, 65, 68, 69, 139, 141, 246, 266, 387?. 
Millenarianism, 64, 68, 107, 128, 212, 235. 
Millennial grapevine, 130, 212. 
Miriam, (Mary,) 357, 359 f., 385, 392, 394, 

405, 407- 

Miracles of infant Jesus : Adoration of 
lions, 225, 229; palm tree, 226; jour- 
ney to Egypt shortened, 226 ; idols 
fall, 226, 240; causes instant death, 
227, 230, 237-9, 246; mud sparrows^ 
227, 236, 244, 246; restores to life, 229, 
230, 237, 238, 246; broken pitcher, 229,, 
237; lengthens a couch, 229, 237; heals 
bite of viper, 230, 238, 246 ; makes dried 
fish swim, 336 ; growth of wheat, 229,^ 
237; heals cut foot, 238; demoniac 
boy, 240, 244 ; frightens robbers, 241 ; 
cures dumb, 241 ; satanic obsession, 
241, 243, 244; leprosy, 241, 243; impo- 
tence, 241 ; ifever, 242 ; dyer's cloth, 
244; stretches throne, 244; boy goats„ 
245 ; heals serpent bite, 246. » 

Misdeus, Indian King, 278. 

Mishna, 38 f., 377, 390, 393. 

Monk, why head shaved, 371. 

Monobasus, 363, 383. 

Moses, Abbot, 153. 

of Chorene, 156, 159 f, 



— Revelation of, 280. 



Mosheim, 203, 210. 

Muller, Max., 89, 93. 

Murdock's English-Syriac N. T., 177. 



Narrative of Joseph, (of Arimathea,) 

262 f. 
Naas, Naasseni, 342, 344. 
Nakai, disciple of jeshu, 386. 
Name, inexpressible, 313, 361, 396, 399, 

400, 403, 411. 
Narses, King of Assyria, 159. 
Nathan, Captain, the Ishmaelite, 265 f. 
Nativity, date of, 7, 377. 
of Mary, (Apoc. Gosp.,) 231- 



233- 
Nazareth, 39 f., 168, 170, 227, 229, 231, 

234, 236 f., 242, 247, 269, 270, 343, 371 

f-, 387, 395, 396, 410 f. 
Nazarean, 4of , 371 f., 387, 396, 410 f., 417. 
Nazarite 41, 121, 123. 
Neander on edict of Aurelius, 210. 
Netzer, disciple of Jeshu, 386. 
Nero, 29 f., 44, 64, 75, 104, 112, 174, 176, 

181, 189, 273, 342; death of, 274. 
New Testament, Syriac, 137 f. 

when written, 90, 96 f.. 



158, 172, 181, 185, 191, 193, 199. 
Nice, council of, 65, 143, 144. 



430 



INDEX. 



Nicetas, Clement's brother, 285 ., 295, 

306, 336. 
Nicodemus, 173, 248, 251, 255, 262, 267. 

Gospel of, 248-257. 

Nimrod, (Zoroaster,) 300, 339. 

Nob, (town near Jerusalem,) 363, 382. 

Noetus and Novatian on Trinity, 94. 

Obsolete defences, 5. 

Onesiphorus, 277. 

Olympiad of Iphitus, 376. 

Ophites, 342. 

Oracles, (see Sibyl.) 

our Lord's, 87, 128 f., 211 f., 

214 f 
Origen, 17, 28, 36, 71, 86, 94, loi, 119 f., 

128, 198, 201, 216, 236, 378, 386, 391, 

408, 416. 

Paine, Thomas, 93, 173, 290. 

Pairs, Peter's doctrine of, 284, 339. 

Paley, Dr., 52, 204. 

Palestine, cities of, 41 ; geography of, 52, 
382 f.; language of, 55, 138, 141, 389. 

Panthera, parent of Jesus, 378. 

Papias, 98, 128 f , 192, 211-215, 345, 348. 

Paphos Ben Jehuda, 385, 390, 392 f. , 394. 

Papul,(Paur) 396. 

Paradise, the thief in, 255, 264, 265. 

Paraclete, 170 f, 178. 

Parker, Theodore, 16. 

Passover, 10 f, 14 f, 122, 170, 252, 263, 
269, 272, 369, 373, 383 f , 401 f 

Paul, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 43-61, 62, 80, 95, 
106, 108, 109, no, 113 f , 117, 118 f , 
127, 128, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 172, 
175, 178, 181, 1S6, 196 f., 215, 273, 274, 
280, 335, 330, 341, 349, 354, 388, 396, 
414 f., 417 f.; a persecutor, 335, 336; 
at Antioch, 50, 54 f; at Jerusalem, 48 
f., 53, 113 f., 417?.; at Rome,44f., 52f., 
181 f., 186, 273, 274, 419 ; Christ of, 17, 
18, 24, 25, 62, 129, 133, 194,420; con- 
version of, 18, 114, 417; death of, 44, 
46, 109, 181, 186, 197, 273; Epistles of, 
18, 30, 43> 49, 53. 57, 79f->96, 108, 138; 
flourished before the Christian era, 
356 f., 414 f; knew no Peter, 53-61; 
knowledge of Greek, 55, 177, 205 ; not 
opposed to Peter, 48 f.; on the Sibyl, 
95 ; personal appearance of, 47, 274. 

Acts of, 273, 274. 

Revelation of, 280. 

Peebles, J. M., 34f, 358. 
Pelasgians, 93. 
Pentecost, 168 f., 172, 373. 
Peratse, 344. 

Perseus born of a virgin, 239. 

Peshito, (Syriac N. T.,) 137 f. 

Peter, 18 f , 25, 43-61, 79, 106-112, 119, 
137-141, 160, 171, 173-182, 186, 194, 
211 f, 273, 276, 281-340, 374, 388, 396, 
419; a myth, 43, 61, ^87 f.; at Antioch, 
50, 54, in; at Babylon, 108, in, 387, 



388; at Jerusalem, 49, 53 f, m ; at 
Rome, 44 f, 59 f., 108, 109, III, 167, 173- 
182, 186, 194 {., 273, 374, 389, 419, 422 ; 
bishop, 43 f, 109, 167, 173 I., i8o, 194 
f., 277; death of, 44, 59, 109, 174, 181, 
i97> 273; diocese of, in; discussion 
with Simon Magus, 291 f., 310 f, 337; 
Epistles of, 19, 3D, 43, 47, 58, 79, 97, 
98, 106, 108, 140, 160, 388 ; in Clement's 
Epistle, 60, 109 f , 388; in Persia, 160; 
in Syriac N. T. and Documents, 138 
f.., 171 f., 174 f., 389; knowledge of 
Greek, 43, 390; letter to bishop James, 
331; meaning of name, 46, 55, 387,396; 
ordains Clement, 333 ; preachings of, 
212, 284, 331 f , 339; revery of, 337; 
unknown to Paul, 53-61 ; wife of, 305, 
307- 

Acts of, 112, 273, 276. 

Petros, 46, 55 f., no, 138 f., 175, 197, 387 f. 
" Philopatris," 47, 77, 88, 94. 
Pharaohs, 242, 316. 
Philip, Apostle, 131. 

Acts of, 275. 

Herod, 258 f 



Philo, 27, 103, 391, 416. 
Pilate, Acts of, 24S-257, 345. 

■ Death of. 260-262. 

Giving up of, 259. 

Letter of, 31, 162, 178 f., 248 f.. 



Report of, 258 ; governor of lower 



257- 



Galilee, 270 f; prisoner at Damascus, 

267; time of, 249, 266, 344; tomb of, 

262; wife of, 251, 260. 
Pliny, 27, 32, 104, 189,210. 
Poggio Bracciolini, 176 f , 423. 
Polycarp, 98, 109, 192, 193, 207, 208- 

2", 345- 
Polycrates, bishop, 131. 
Polymius, Indian king, 279. 
Pontifex Maximus, 181. 
Porchetus Salvations, 413. 
Portrait of Christ, 260, 267. 
Popes, (first bishops of Rome) 45, 190, 

194, 196. 
Prideaux, 38, 82. 
Prayer, public, 156, 171. 
Prometheus, 34 f. 

Prophet, true, 284 f. , 287," 291, 334. 
Protevangelion, 216-222, 350. 
Pseudo-Matthew, 222-231, 350. 
Publius Lentulus, 31. 

Quirinus, (Cyrenus,) 224. 

Raban Maur, 378. 
Raffle, apostolic, 25. 
Raymundus Martini, 410. 
Recent Christian forgeries, 268 f. 
Recognitions ofClement, in f., 194, 281 f. 
Resurrection of Christ, 16-26, 28, 53, 127, 

133, 161, 162, 179, 252; general, 70,107, 

254- 



INDEX. 



431 



Bevelation of John, (canonical,) 63,97, 

107, 118, 126 f., 128, 134, 212, 404. 
Revelation of Moses, 280. 
of Esdras, 280. 

of John, 280. 

— of Paul, 280. 

Rome, Ignatius at, 60, loi, 207 f.; Jose- 
phus at, 419 ; Paul at, (see Paul ;) Peter 
at, (see Peter;) population of, 175. 

Romans, Epistle to, 43, 52, 80, 176. 

Sabbath, 15, 23, 170, 171, 199, 264, 287, 

334, 369. 383. 384, 397, 406. 
Sadducees, origin of, 334. 
Salome, 23, 24; midwife, 220, 224. 

third husband of Anna, 231. 

Samson, a Nazarite, 41. 

Satan and Hades, 254 f., 259. 

Saul, 335 f. 

Savior, (Joshua, Jesus,) 33, 68, 82 ; black, 

93- 

the Avenging of the, 265-268. 

Scholten, on John, 129. 

Scripture falsehoods, 288 f., 294, 311 f., 

321. 
Seleucia, 207, 274. 
Seleucidae, 62. 
Seleucus, 222 ; Nicator, 62. 
Semo Sancus, Roman god, 107. 
SepherToldoth Jeshu, 36 f., 344, 357-413. 
Sepporis, capital of Galilee, 41. 
Septuagint, 65, 68, 79 f., 81, 93, 95, 131, 

132, 197, 256, 388, 409. 
Serapion, bishop, 112. 
Seth, 254. 

Paraphrase of, 343. 

Sethians, 343. 

Seventy weeks, 69. 

Sharbil, martyrdom of, 182-186. 

Shem Hamphoras, 362, 364, 366, 410 f. 

Shepherds, vision of, 224. 

Sibyl, 71 f., 82 f., 88, 91, 95,98, 143, 202 f., 

257- 

Sibylline oracles, 71 f., 82-95, 343. 

Sibyllists, Christians called, 71, 203. 

Silvanus, Apostle, 133. 

Simeon, priest, 221, 225, 240, 253. 

. Bishop of Jerusalem, 347. 

— — Ben Kalphus, 392, 394, 403, 405. 

. Ben Shetach, 360, 368, 392 f . 

■ Kepha. (See Kepha.) 

Simon Kepha. (See Kepha.) 

Simon Magus, 106 f., 112, 179 f., 273, 
285 f., 290-295, 298, 301, 307, 310 f., 328 
f , 336^,341 f., 403,406; prodigies of, 
180, 182, 287, 295, 336, 338; Jesus 
Christ, 273 ; the Standing one, 320, 
337, 406. 

Simon the Canaanite, 246. 

Sinaitic Codex, 57, 201. 

Smith, Rev. John Pye, 37, 358. 

Smith's Bible Dictionary, 55, 57, 130, 
271, 382, 420. 



Stada, mother of Jesus, 304 f., 377, 384, 

385, 39°- 
Standards bow down, 250. 
Stoning to death, 19; of Jeshu, 18, 369, 

384, 422. 
Strauss, Dr., 355. 
Sunday, 23, 171, 374. 
Suetonius, 27, 30, 75, 81, 104, 105, 176. 
Sulpicius Severus, 176 f., 424. 
Sunderland, Rev. Dr., on Peter, 44. 
" Supernatural Religion," 37, 60, 96, 98, 

loi, 129, 159, 290, 346, 415. 
Syriac documents, 100, 137, 145, 153, 168, 

170, 174, 182, 186, 205, 270; language, 

138, 141. 
New Testament, 137-141, 171, 

177, 389- 

Tacitus, 28 f., 32, 34, 75, 104, 176 f., 420, 

422, 423. 
Talmud, 38, 40, 42, 124, 359, 376, 377, 

379, 380 f., 384, 38s, 387, 389 f., 393. 
and Toldoth Jeshu, 389-393. 



Tanchuma, Rabbi, 370. 

Tatian, 158, 346. 

Taylor, Robert, 28 f., 34 f., 39, 59, 93, 94, 

201, 358. 
Tell, Wm., a myth, 3, 112, 398. 
Temple built, 250, 263, 361 ; burned, 293. 
Tertul]ian,29f.,36, 37, 76f.,85,88, 189 f., 

201, 209, 270, 348. 
Thaddeus, 137, 146 f., 151, 152, 153-168, 

169, 183, 396. 

Acts of, 279. 

Ministry of, 153-168. 



Theodoret, on Tatian, 346. 
Thecla, Acts of Paul and, 274. 
Theophilus of Antioch, 76, 78, 129, 331, 

346. 
Therapeuts, 103, 118. 
Thoda, disciple of Jeshu, 386, 396. 
Thomas, 22, 24, 146 f., 151, 173, 236 f,, 

243, 280. 

Acts of, 278. 

Gospel of, 236-239, 343. 



Tiberianus, governor of Syria, 189. 

Tiberius, Emperor, 31, 160-164, 249, 257, 
258, 259, 260, 265, 267. 268, 269, 270, 
282, 295 ; letter to Abgar, 162. 

Pilate's letter to, 31, 162, 257. 

Pilate's report to, 258. 



Tillemont, 150. 

Timothy, 18, 43, 50, 53, 62, 97, 110, 133, 

.172, 177, 345. 
Tischendorf, 233, 248, 408. 
Titus, 43, 50, 53, 62, 97, no, 177, 345. 

Prince, 265 f. 

robber, 242. 



Tombs of the Gods, 298. 
Tower, Simon on, 182, 374, 403. 
Trajan, 32, 130, 182 f., 185, 188 f., 205 f., 
210, 275, 279, 348; edict of, 183, 188 f., 



432 



INDEX. 



Trent, council of, 65, 67. 

Trial of Jesus, 249 f., 263 f., 269 f. 

Trinity, 88, 94 f , 144, 233, 343. 
Tripolis, 299. 
Truth-Seeker, 357, 413. 
Tyre, 294, 298. 

Valerius on Peter, 44. 
Valesius, 150. 
Vatican Codex, 57. 
Varro, 73, 81, 83, 84. 
Veronica, 31, 251, 260 f., 267. 
Vespasian, 123, 265, 266. 
Victor, Bishop, 131. 
Vienna, 261 f. 
Vitellius, 163. 
Virgin. (See Mary.) 
Vishnu, 73 f., 89, 93. 
Vitellius, 163 f. 
Voltaire, 36, 290, 358, 408. 
Vulgate, Latin, 66. 

Wagenseil, 36, 357, 375, 376, 381, 407, 422. 



"Wake, Archbishop, 99. 
Watson, Bishop, 173. 
Westminster Assembly, 66. 
Whiston, Dr., 118, 123, 417, 421. 
Wise, Rabbi, 12, 19, 39 f., 51, 53. 
Workman, old, Clement's father, 308, 

Woodhull, Mrs. V. C, 184. 
World, age of, 70, 256 ; end of, 70. 
Wormajesa, (Worms,) 392, 401. 



Xavier, Jerome, 32. 

Zaccheus, 284, 287, 291, 294, 307, 314, 335. 
Zacharias, priest, 217 f., 223, 232; mur- 
der of, 221. 
Zacheus, schoolmaster, 228, 237. 
Zelona, midwife, 224. 
Zephyrinus, Bishop, 196. 
Zeus, tomb of, 298. 
Zevi, Salmon, Rabbi, 391. 
Zoroaster, meaning of, 300, 339. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Feb. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
{724)779-2111 



